Close adviser says Trump’s second term running as ‘well-oiled machine’

Things are sweeter the second time around for Trump & Co., says Alex Pfeiffer, a White House adviser responsible for strategic communications.

Taking office again after a four-year hiatus, Trump “has all the experience of the first term, knowledge of the power players who he works well with, who he doesn’t work well with and (the) same from the staff side,” Pfeiffer told The Heartlander’s Chris Stigall in an exclusive interview.

The Republican party is also far more united behind Trump than during his first term, when many were skeptical because of his outsider status.

“In the first term, there were some elements that did not like the president,” Pfeiffer said. “That doesn’t really exist anymore in the Republican Party. So, I think it’s just more of a well-oiled machine.”

Moving fast

Machine isn’t an exaggeration. In just seven months, the administration has moved quickly on a series of issues ranging from securing the border, ending multiple wars and negotiating international trade deals to banning men from women’s sports and cracking down on Washington, D.C., crime.

Trump resumed office ready to work and has a willing team.

“The attitude here at the White House and the administration is when the president calls a play, we run it,” Pfeiffer said, using football terminology that places Trump as a head coach or quarterback.

The president also is utilizing his business background and construction experience to remake the White House, and is using his personal funds and other private contributions to build a $200 million ballroom.

Trump certainly turned heads when seen walking on the White House roof with construction personnel to survey that and other projects.

More ‘hands on’ and less bureaucracy

Pfeiffer said Trump is a very “hands-on” president who calls “a lot of audibles,” using another football term for spontaneous plays.

“And that’s what I think is wonderful about this White House,” he said. “There is no sort of bureaucratic process. If we want to do something, we do it.

“I mean, take D.C., for example. I think the president was sick and tired of seeing headlines and news stories about violence in our nation’s capital. We are the world’s wealthiest nation. We’re the most powerful. There is no reason that our capital should have a higher homicide rate than Bogota, Colombia, right?

“In fact, in 2023 D.C. had roughly the same murder rate as Trinidad and Tobago. The State Department tells Americans to reconsider travel to Trinidad and Tobago because of crime. It’s one of the nations that they’re like, ‘You shouldn’t travel to,’ but our capital has roughly the same murder rate.”

Whereas other administrations might have “started a blue-ribbon commission or had some white paper reports,” Trump deployed the National Guard. “And for the first time in a very long time, D.C. went a week without a homicide.”

Now Trump is looking to bring this initiative to cities such as Chicago and Baltimore, because “every American has the right to walk to work, to walk to school, to play in their front yard and to fall asleep without hearing the sound of gunshots,” Pfeiffer said.

A show of strength

When asked about the B-2 flyover that greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin upon his arrival in Alaska for a recent summit with Trump, Pfeiffer called it “a cool welcoming,” not anything malicious.

While former President Joe Biden never met with Putin after the Russia-Ukraine war started, Trump is “doing all the steps that are necessary” to end the war, including meeting with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Another contrast to the Biden administration is Trump’s availability to reporters. Both he and members of his administration routinely appear on various media channels and take questions from both left- and right-leaning outlets, as well as new media.

The administration takes “an all-of-the-above approach because everyone consumes media in their own way,” Pfeiffer said. “Some people listen to the radio. Some people watch NBC. You just have to have an all-of-the-above approach so you can reach everyone.”