WASHINGTON — For a man who loves the spotlight, Donald Trump has been conspicuously out of view since his triumph in last week’s presidential election.
There have been no rallies, no news conferences, no speeches. Instead, Trump has spent most of his first week as president-elect behind closed doors at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Florida, where he’s working the phones, reconnecting with foreign leaders and building his new administration.
Trump is hardly in seclusion. He’s surrounded by advisors, friends and paying members of his club, who weigh in with advice as he selects people for top government jobs. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, whose companies have billions of dollars of federal contracts, has been a constant presence. Some see Musk as the second-most influential figure in Trump’s immediate orbit after the campaign chief who will be chief of staff, Susie Wiles.
On Tuesday evening, Trump announced that Musk would help lead a “Department of Government Efficiency” — essentially an independent advisory panel — where he could recommend ways to “drive out the massive waste and fraud.”
“This will send shockwaves through the system,” Musk said in a statement. He will work with Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur who ran for president himself.
Trump is expected to return to public view Wednesday, when he goes to the White House to meet with President Biden and visits the Capitol to consult with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). Overall, Trump is laying the groundwork for his second presidency at a much faster clip than his first.
That doesn’t mean the private process lacks the cutthroat atmosphere that Trump has long fostered within his orbit. A former White House official still close to Trump compared the situation at Mar-a-Lago to the “Game of Thrones” drama series, and another former Trump official also described chaotic jockeying for jobs. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal dynamics.
Eight years ago, when Trump pulled off a shocking victory over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, he wasn’t out of sight for long. He visited President Obama at the White House two days after the election, then met with Republican leaders on Capitol Hill.
“We’re going to move very strongly on immigration,” he said at the time. “We will move very strongly on healthcare. And we’re looking at jobs. Big league jobs.”
Back in New York, back then, Trump Tower was transformed into the backdrop for a new political reality show. The media camped out in the lobby of Trump’s namesake skyscraper to see who was coming and going. Sometimes Trump would ride the elevator down to offer an update or show off a guest.
In one notable moment that December, the rapper then known as Kanye West emerged with Trump, who said the two had “been friends for a long time.” Asked what they had discussed, Trump replied: “Life. We discussed life.” Trump later came under intense criticism in 2022 for dining with Ye and a Holocaust-denying white nationalist.
Eight years ago, Trump also held transition meetings in New Jersey at his Bedminster golf course, where the media assembled many days for a procession of candidates before the assembled cameras.
Some, like future Defense Secretary James N. Mattis, ended up with job offers. Others, like Mitt Romney, did not. After the Romney meeting, the two walked out together and shook hands next to an American flag. Trump flashed a quick thumbs-up and said it “went great.”
The current arrangement is far different. There’s no public access to Mar-a-Lago, which appears to be under even tighter security than it was in the immediate aftermath of two assassination attempts targeting Trump.
The roundabout in front of the property’s entrance is fully barricaded, and vehicles from the Palm Beach County sheriff’s office and Secret Service were spotted standing guard, along with unmarked police cars, black vans and a golf cart on a recent afternoon.
Instead, Trump has announced his picks in statements and posts on his Truth Social site, while his comings and goings have been captured on social media by club members and their guests, who, as always, have near-unfettered access.
In one video, he’s seen dancing to “YMCA” on the club’s packed patio. In another, he and his wife, Melania, are cheered as they arrive for dinner. They were also spotted sitting together at a table with Musk. Trump is known to have left Mar-a-Lago only once since the election, to visit another of his properties.
Musk has tried to put his imprint on every subject facing the new administration, according to people familiar with his efforts, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the dynamic. His attempts at influence extend to issues beyond his expertise, like border security.
Trump added Musk to a post-election call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who hopes the United States will continue the flow of military assistance to fend off Russia’s invasion. Trump and Musk have both expressed skepticism about supporting Ukraine, and Trump often speaks admiringly of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has vowed to end the war before Inauguration Day.
Positions in the coming Trump administration are being offered far more quickly now than they were the first time around. In 2016, Trump announced his senior leadership team, including chief of staff, the Sunday after the election. But he waited 10 days for his first Cabinet appointment
This time, Trump swiftly named Wiles as his chief of staff. He’s also chosen Stephen Miller, an anti-immigration firebrand, as a policy advisor, and Tom Homan as his “border czar.” Trump has tapped Republican New York Rep. Elise Stefanik as his ambassador to the United Nations and former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to run the Environmental Protection Agency.
The competition for jobs this year has been intense. While Trump’s 2016 election was a surprise, this time allies have spent four years pulling together personnel lists and policy proposals. Candidates are being represented by PR agencies and lobbyists. One potential Cabinet pick hired consultants to try to bolster his image.
While Trump had said he already had people in mind for various roles, Howard Lutnick, the co-chair of Trump’s transition team in charge of personnel, previously told the Associated Press that he hadn’t discussed any recommendations with Trump before his win because the president-elect is notoriously superstitious.
“What I do is I go and find the greatest candidates for the role. So each role will have, let’s say, eight amazing candidates — fully vetted, fully capable of Senate confirmation, OK?” he said. “Then he’ll start interviewing and he’ll start considering. That’s up to him, right? He’s the chooser.”
Associated Press writer Megerian reported from Washington, Colvin from New York. AP writers Matthew Lee in Washington and Stephany Matat in Palm Beach, Fla., contributed to this report.