Chris Whipple

She was in the Oval Office when I arrived.

She excused herself and met me in her office, and we had lunch from the White House mess and talked about all kinds of things, including the elections.

She knew they were going to have a rough night, and the GOP certainly did.

They got routed, as you know.

So we talked about that.

We talked about Maduro and the Venezuela policy.

We talked about

all kinds of things.

And at one point, I said to her, this was just days after the demolition of the East Wing.

And I said, were you surprised by the reaction?

You know, the fierce criticism of demolishing the East Wing for Trump's 90,000-foot ballroom.

And she said, no, they weren't surprised at all.

Trump was determined to just forge ahead.

And then she said, but I think you need to judge it in its entirety.

In other words, judge the White House renovation in its entirety.

And I said, what do you mean?

She said, well, there are other things that he's planning.

And I said, like what?

And she said, I'm not telling.

And anyway, as I was leaving, I noticed that there is a big monitor just to the left of the wood-burning fireplace in that corner office where the White House chiefs reside.