Featured Image Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images
Topics: News, US News, Donald Trump
Gerrard Kaonga
Donald Trump has to travel a lot as the leader of the US, and the staffers who go with him have opened up about the one thing they dread.
While being the president of the US comes with a whole host of challenges, one thing often forgotten is how often they have to travel.
With Donald Trump back in the White House for a second time, he is likely used to the demands of going abroad to meet other dignitaries and the importance of speaking to other leaders in person.
Nevertheless, in his first term he said he was aiming to travel less than his predecessors, and he is reportedly not a fan of foreign travel in general.
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But some staffers are apparently having an even worse time than the president, and went as far as to say traveling with Trump on Air Force One was ‘like being held captive’.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins recently appeared on Jason Tartick's Trading Secrets podcast on Monday (October 6) and gave her insights from talking to insiders about the most annoying thing when traveling with the president.
She said: “I had this source who said you never want to be on Air Force One on a trip, and I said, ‘Why?’ You would think you would want to be in the axis of power, close to Trump."
This is in reference to an article she wrote in 2019, which offered an inside look into what it was like traveling with Trump on Air Force One.
The former Chief White House Correspondent said it can be difficult to get to grips with the president’s unusual sleep schedule, especially during long haul flights.
Collins said: “He doesn't sleep on these trips and like, you're going to Asia or something, and that's kind of the only time you're going to sleep before you go on this trip, but Trump is just always up and talking.
“He'll have them go wake staff up if they're asleep because he wants to talk to them.”
Collins and her colleague Kevin Liptak wrote in their report at the time: "He’ll summon sleeping staffers to his office at moments the rest of the plane is dark, impatient to discuss his upcoming meetings or devise a response to something he saw in the media."
Sources added that Fox News is constantly playing on Air Force One throughout the night, and Trump is said to spend most of the journey pouring over newspaper and cable news coverage on himself - and instructing staffers to take action if he isn't happy about it.
"He will not go to sleep," one source told the publication.
To be honest, this doesn't sound fun at all.
UNILAD has contacted the White House for comment.