Dan Scavino and Erin Elmore recount their intense White House tenure, detailing how Scavino rushed a shot President Trump to the hospital at 90 mph during the Butler shooting. They explain his current role enforcing loyalty in Presidential Personnel and Erin's mission to align embassy art with conservative values against "woke" ideologies. The couple describes their engagement proposal in the Rose Garden on September 24th and their strategy of bypassing legacy media via social platforms. Ultimately, they emphasize that surrounding themselves with trusted allies while ignoring traditional gatekeepers is essential for navigating modern political challenges. [Automatically generated summary]
So you were there for some of the biggest moment in politics over the last course of your years here.
What was the moment that stands out the most?
And then Butler, Pennsylvania.
When the shots were fired and he dropped to the stage and got up and lifted the fist with the fight, fight, fight.
You don't know what was going on.
You didn't know, we didn't know the guy was dead on the rooftop.
We didn't know they got him.
Just shaking.
You don't know what's coming next, right?
And just pandemonium.
How did you go from working at the golf course to being the longest serving and most trusted aide of the president?
Are you not tired of all of this after 35 years of working for the same person?
No, because every day is different.
Would you mind taking us through what's it like to being the Trump power couple of the year?
This morning I got a bacon, egg, and cheese that I went in his office and promptly ate.
Oh, I love you, baby.
Oh, I am.
I'm sorry.
I'm just staring at her.
She's so good.
And the deliverables on it are just so professional and very, like, just beautiful.
Hi, everyone, and welcome to this week's episode of the Katie Miller podcast.
We're so excited to be in the White House today, joined by the one and only Dan Scavino and his beautiful fiancé, Erin Elmore.
Hello.
Thanks for coming on the show.
Thanks for having us.
It's an honor.
It's an honor.
So you were there for some of the biggest moment in politics over the last course of your years here.
What was the moment that stands out the most?
Oh, wow.
There's so many.
There's so many.
First term, second term, or I mean.
Well, let's go first term.
We'll go in between.
The first term was just seeing him fight the good fight each and every day for the American people.
You know, the guy could be at Mar-a-Lago, one of his 19 golf courses, not dealing with any of the crap.
And just seeing the way he would come to the office and then all the hoaxes that came his way and the way he just kept up the good fight.
And, you know, and then leaving the White House on January 20th and then being out the four years and the law affair that was waged against him and all of us on the inner circle.
It was brutal, absolutely brutal, the likes of which, you know, you never think the FBI is going to be showing up at your front door if you serve four years and work your ass off in the White House doing nothing wrong.
U.S. Marshals thereafter and just the whole process.
Yeah, it was waging every which direction.
And while going through all that, still campaigning, still putting out the messaging, still fighting for what you believe in.
And then Butler, Pennsylvania.
And I talk about it.
You know, I don't do a lot of interviews, as you know.
I really, I think I've done maybe one or two.
Like we're very.
You're very private.
We're very private, but also very public, right?
On social media and stuff.
Was Butler when, because it gets very emotional.
But when the shots were fired and I was with Susie Wiles and Stephen Chung and Walt and he dropped to the stage and got up and lifted the fist, you know, with the fight, fight, fight, being rushed to the car, hopping in an SUV with Susie, 90 miles an hour to the hospital, not knowing, right?
He's in the car with agents in front of him.
I picked up his hat because his hat was on the ground when he was being put in the SUV.
You don't know what was going on.
You didn't know, we didn't know the guy was dead on the rooftop.
We didn't know they got him.
Just shaking.
But the hat, like I grabbed the hat, you don't know what's coming next, right?
And just pandemonium.
And then being in the hospital and in the room with him, with Susie and Walt.
Sean Curran, who's the current director of the Secret Service.
And Very powerful moment, like the picture of him raising the fist and the other picture of the bullet just flying by.
That all started coming out when he was in his hospital room and showing it to him.
And it's just wild.
He's asking about how other people are doing, which I'll never forget.
He's on the phone, you know, with Don Jr. and Ivanka, like family, and talking to them and trying to lift everybody up around him on the phone and in that hospital room.
And I'm like, man, what a patriot, what a fight.
I mean, we, you know, the trauma from that, like, will, when you think of it, will always be there, right?
Like, it's just a moment you don't forget.
You never forget it.
And the way he went to the hospital, we left the hospital, we're on the plane, and he's trying to make people laugh.
I mean, this is like eight hours after it happened, and we're going to Bedminster, New Jersey, diverted locations.
And they shut down Bedminster and completely shut down.
And it was like Fort Knox.
And there were like six of us there is a moment I'll never forget.
And then the convention was coming up.
And it was, yeah, do we do it or not?
Like he was all in.
We are going to the convention.
The schedule stays the way.
I'm just like, what a badass.
What a badass.
And as you know, we had the convention.
He came out, you know, with the ear covered.
And the way he went out and campaigned thereafter, that was the most powerful moment through it all where I said to myself, I may have even said it to him.
I don't even know.
You don't remember, but I'm like, you're going to win this election.
You're the next president of the United States again.
And that wasn't easy.
Like we would go to events and speak and many like, speak to it now because it's past us.
But it wasn't even just being out there with 10,000 people.
It was scary.
You just were on edge.
Everything.
The balloons dropping at the convention when people started popping them.
I had to leave the arena because you just were like triggered over everything.
And it took a few months.
The President's Big Offer00:15:00
While going through that, him fighting each and every day, doing his rallies, doing his speeches.
Like it was epic.
I mean, absolutely epic.
Not many people could do that.
A lot of people just give up.
Say, I'm, nope, I'm done.
I get emotional from it because his behind the scenes attitudes, his behind-the-scenes attitude was just like fight, fight, fight.
What he did that day was the messaging that's held true all his life.
It held true the four years we were out.
It held true the four years we were in.
It held true when he was the Donald J. Trump, the New York City icon who redefined the city skylined.
He's just a fighter and a champion.
I think it's well known how often he comes to you for advice on just about everything.
Can you recall a specific moment where you're like, if only the world knew the man I know, like everyone would love him so much more than they do.
Because I think you get phone calls all hours of the night still.
Decades later.
I do.
And a lot of the social media stuff during the campaign and even back in the very beginning, the biggest thing was putting out those behind the scenes moments and videos back in 15, 16, even when he was in office, to share with who the guy like really, really is.
I call him America's greatest host.
That's so true.
Right?
Always.
Because he makes everybody in the room just feel like he's focused on them.
No matter if it's the Oval Office, the airplane, the golf course, the restaurant, wherever it is.
And those people out there, members of Congress, everybody all around the country that's ever engaged with him knows exactly what I'm speaking about.
The entire cabinet knows exactly what I'm speaking about.
He makes each and everyone feel important.
It doesn't matter what you do.
It doesn't matter who you are or what you do.
He listens and takes input from everybody.
And he's been like that his entire life.
He's so entertaining.
And he is one of the funniest people I've ever, ever met.
You've recently transitioned from doing the social media as you described to the head of presidential personnel, which appoints all political appointees across the entire federal government.
A lot's been written over the years about President Trump's loyalty test.
And I think to me, there's nothing more indicative of that than hiring Dan Scavino to hire those employees.
What's been that like this new job?
And how would you describe it to people who don't really understand what PPO is?
Well, it's been very challenging to take it on because it's still doing other things for him or things I've done with and for him over the years.
It's very challenging.
I didn't realize how big PPO was.
I didn't realize it was in charge of ambassadors, boards, and commissions, appointments, jobs.
I didn't realize the team that's behind the scenes at PPO that supports the director of PPO.
There's an incredible team that really gets the things done.
I may be on the forefront of it all, but Morgan DeWitt, many, Will, a couple of the folks in the room right now that have been doing this for over a year now and are honestly, they're patriots.
They care about the president and they want to get great people and they want to put great people in.
And no matter how the day is going, like, because sometimes it's a lot.
I'm not going to, you know, when I have like.
So why do you not hire people?
Okay.
Well, this is a good one.
Not hiring is easy.
That's easy.
It's the explaining to the one of 100 people in a given week that recommended somebody.
Not hiring people would be for not supporting the president's agenda or saying it's simple as not saying great things about our president or his policies.
And I'm still literally digging in on a lot of different things.
Social media is the biggest thing they catch you on.
That's great.
Is there any time you've come across somebody and you're like just dumbfounded that they'd even apply?
There's been a lot of that.
There's been a lot of things where, you know, maybe social media doesn't have something, but, you know, the vetting and all that other stuff.
There's things that you're just kind of like, oh, wow.
You've been on social media talking about how if, you know, you didn't reach out to me in those four intervening years.
Don't come ask for a job.
What's that like when somebody who wasn't there for us in those four years comes back and says, hey, you remember me?
Yeah.
And, you know, I put that post out, I don't even know, a couple of years, before I even took over PPO.
Oh, yeah, that was before we got in office.
That was before we even got back.
Yes.
And I mean it, like, there's people that will reach out that literally I didn't hear from the four years we were out or weren't exactly supportive of the president.
Like I put that out because I started hearing from a lot of people that all of a sudden were just showing up and wanted opportunities and jobs and different things.
Let's just say that they don't receive a return call.
Like I meant what I said.
If you were not there for us, and maybe it's not the right attitude, somebody may say, oh, give them a second chance.
Give them a shot.
I know exactly what this man went through.
What you went through.
What I went through.
What we went through as a team.
And if you weren't there for him, don't even bother calling me.
It was pretty simple.
It was kind of self-explanatory.
And I had to put it out because I was amazed at the people that I was hearing from.
You're very popular now.
Well, we don't, yeah, we.
You're very popular with this new job.
Yeah, we have a lot of incoming and requests.
Even, you know, dinners sometimes are a little challenging.
But that's fine.
As long as we get great American patriots to serve our president that believes in his policies and agenda, I'm willing to talk to anybody.
How did your relationship evolve from going from working at the golf course to being the longest serving Trump, continuous Trump aide who has his utmost trust?
Do you know that I've never asked him that question I've been dying to ask?
So I'm glad that you did.
It's been a long journey.
I mean, I'm talking back in high school.
So I'm sorry.
Can you repeat that?
How did you go?
Oh, sorry.
To Aaron's dying to ask.
How did you go from working at the golf course to being the longest serving continuous Trump senior Trump aide, or I'd say continuous ever, and most trusted aide of the president?
I would say just working my ass off back in the days of high school and through college and the summers and just having a great work ethic and just, you know, growing up really was.
That's not the end.
Like, how did it go for the day that you're sitting at the golf course and he's like, hey, Dan, like, where, how did that occur?
We went out.
I was a, I was like four caddying for him.
Yeah.
And I saw him every weekend.
He was purchasing a golf course I worked at.
And I was just like, worked hard.
And back then it was like, holy crap, this is the New York icon.
It's Donald J. Trump.
Just working really hard.
And when I was like in high school going off the car, he said, you're going to work for me one day.
You're going to work for me.
Fast forward all through college.
I worked through him through college.
Then I became like the assistant manager, general manager, vice president in Trump Org.
And then 2012 rolls around when he came up or 11, when he came up for breakfast on, I think it was a Sunday morning after he went to the White House correspondence dinner.
Do you remember that night?
I do.
And he had that look in his eyes.
So you should run for president.
You should run for president.
You would win.
You would be an awesome president.
Like, and then fast forward when he did run, right?
I've always believed in the guy because.
Did he ask you to come join the campaign?
Like, how did you go from working at the golf course?
Just turn over the stair and I'm like loving this.
Well, she's going to get you to answer.
Like, where was that moment?
Was there a conversation?
When he started running, I was like, I'm all in.
I want to be on the political side of things.
People have always said, don't get involved in politics.
It's an ugly, it's ugly.
It's nasty.
It's just like.
Did you believe in the same things as him or did you believe in him?
I believe.
I believed in him when I did it.
Yeah, I believed in him, but I also believed in a lot of the things he was saying.
You go back 20 years and look at some of the interviews he's done that hold true today.
I've just always believed in his policies and the stuff he says.
Now, you know, like, and look, it got him into the White House.
But he's just, he's a great guy.
And that's why the video concept started of the behind us, to show the American people the real Donald Trump as much as we possibly can.
Because the mainstream media was not going to share it and not going to show it.
And we had to fight through and push through and just those moments backstage, you know, where he's meeting people or just anything and everything you've ever seen.
A lot of people have been fired from President Trump's orbit or have chosen to leave.
How did you survive all of those periods?
Well, I didn't get fired because honestly, I put things first in the sense of serving our country and serving our president.
And like I said before, I'm an honest broker.
I'm very fair.
I say it how it is.
Maybe people may not like it, but at least you know what you're getting with me, like it or not.
And right?
I mean, I just like to just be real, you know?
And I think I'm just, it's to the point now.
It's like 33, 34 years.
It's like, okay, so when I'm telling you that this person, this, this, this, and that, you think I don't have your best interests?
He knows.
He's known for a long time.
And I just look out for him and the administration, even the administration.
It's very important.
And like I said, the team is so great.
There's not much, you know, but he knows I've got his back.
And, you know, when you go into a foxhole after everything we've been through.
I want Dan Scavino with me.
You want the right people in that foxhole.
Not everyone knows Aaron as well as they know the famous Dan Scovino on the internet.
Aaron was on season three of The Apprentice, but you guys didn't meet back when you were doing The Apprentice, even though Dan was definitely on some episodes.
Yeah, we never met.
Never.
In fact, there was an episode that they showed of the live audience that scooped around.
And I was with some folks from the Trump organization.
This is 20 years ago.
I took a picture.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Somebody like, and somebody posted it on like Twitter or X rather.
Yeah.
And I was like, we were in the same room back 20 plus years ago.
Yeah, it's like really weird.
It's wild.
It's wild.
So you are the director of art in embassies.
Yes.
You got that job before you and Dan were dating, presumably around the same time.
What is that like for you now?
And how do you guys make that work?
Him being the new head of presidential personnel, you having a job in the administration?
How do you make that work?
And what does being the director of art entail?
So the director of art and embassies is under Marco Rubio's Department of State, and there's 190 diplomatic properties worldwide.
And we provide art for all of Trump's ambassadors and their residences.
And when we're building a new embassy, we cultivate that permanent art collection.
So I often say it's the most fun you can have working in politics because art is a way to bridge people together.
It's a way of communicating when you might have different languages or different viewpoints.
And it's the first thing you see, you know, when you go into an embassy, you notice this beautiful building, American exceptionalism, strength, and the art is a reflection of that.
And I, I'm sorry.
I'm just staring at her.
She's so good.
And the deliverables on it are just so professional and very like, just beautiful.
And the deliverance is like.
I love Dan.
I love how much you love Erin.
It's so cute.
It's incredible.
I'm just observing, sitting, watching, because I've seen her on TV since she's done some TV hits.
And even the president says she's amazing on TV and this and that.
I'm just, I'm sorry to cut you off, but I love this so much.
That's basically the point of the job.
And that's it, right?
Not to cut you off.
No, but you didn't.
It was cutting me off to give me a compliment as always.
Yeah, and the ambassador's love her, the administration in the sense of like, she's a patriot, right?
And the right, just believes in fighting for the American people and representing the administration with her best foot forward.
And there were other opportunities she had.
I was going to say, the president offered me on the spot in December a very big job, let's just say.
And I turned it down also on the spot because I have a young son.
And this, with art, I can go to galleries in almost any city across the country.
I can do my work from anywhere in the world.
And I want to be able to spend as much time with my son as possible.
And by the way, the Art and Embassies program was started in 1964.
This isn't a new thing by President Kennedy.
So it's always been a political position.
It's always been someone that the president appointed.
And just like he's done with the performing arts at the Kennedy Center, he wanted to make sure that I was here to make sure that our visual arts were not woke, were not dominated by people that had a leftist ideology.
And it's funny.
I am a little bit of a undercover person in the State Department that can get people out through art, shockingly.
I had a, I'll shout her out, Anna Paulina Luna was in Romania and she called me, said, hey, girl.
She said, I'm in Romania.
I said, that's nice.
What's going on?
I was just at the Ambassador of Romania's residence and there is satanic baby art in the residence.
So within 15 minutes, I'm on the phone with Marco's team, not only having the art removed from art and embassies, the art removed from the State Department, out of everything.
And that ambassador, she's no longer with us.
So it's like a good way to learn things.
There was an ambassador to a Latin American country that wanted very fine people, Charlottesville art.
He's no longer with us either.
I mean, he's with us in the middle.
This is great.
And it's all true.
And again, it's all in support of the president's agenda and all our beliefs and values and everything.
And, you know, sometimes when, you know, other parts of the world, some folks that are out there that are just not aligned with the president of the United States.
We all serve at the pleasure of the president.
We serve at the pleasure of the president.
President Biden's ambassadors.
You are the epitome now of the DC power couple.
If this was any other world, you guys would be on the cover of Vogue celebrating your engagement, but we're not in that world.
How did you guys meet?
Would you mind taking us through what's it like to being the Trump power couple of the year?
Well, how did we meet?
So here's the question.
Depends which version.
Depends on who you ask.
And who you ask.
Go ahead.
Okay, so I was doing a television news head on Fox News, Jesse Waters show, and he's my favorite.
We're both from Philly.
Meeting The Power Couple00:03:11
And all of a sudden, after I get off air, I see that I have a DM from Dan Scavino.
And I was very excited about that.
And my two girlfriends, now, what do they tell you about that?
I try to play it close.
Like, thanks so much.
It's exactly what happened.
But the message was more of a, she did a great job.
It was right after we won the election.
Her messaging was just so solid and spot on.
Beautifully delivered.
And it was just a, hey, literally, like, great job on Jesse.
Just saw it.
Great messaging.
Thank you.
And that was really it with, you know.
He had no intentions.
None.
None.
And, you know, she said, thank you so much.
Yes, I did.
And then about an hour went by and she sent me another one.
So congratulations.
Good luck with the transition, you know.
And we just kind of started talking.
So you slid into her DMs?
Yes.
That's basically he's playing myself.
I slid into her DMs, but it was not with the intention of which sometimes she likes to tell the story, which is really cute.
I slid into the DMs.
But, you know, we've been in the same circles for many, many years and never really spoke to each other.
However, you told me later that you had noticed me.
I did notice her.
I did notice her and I was aware of her.
But like, again, we never, we never like really spoke.
And again, she was on The Apprentice 22 years ago or 20 years ago.
I'd love you to play a clip or two of that.
No, thank you.
If you could implement that into the podcast, because she gets when I turn it on, because Amazon came out with all the seasons.
So I teed up season three and I started watching it.
And she just, no, no, no.
So just great clips of her.
But and then fast forward the campaign over the last 10 years.
Like again, we never, we never really spoke.
Maybe a hello, you know, they would come with their pink ladies.
And he said he lied from us.
And I'd be like, oh, the pink ladies for Trump are here, you know, and they did bust.
They did a great job as surrogates all around the country.
But we never like really even spoke until November, literally, of 2024.
And then we were just exchanging messages and talking.
And I said, I'm going to probably move down there for, you know, a month or two transition and somewhere between like Palm Beach and Jupiter.
And when she offered to show me the area, I took her up on showing me the area.
He's acting so innocent.
It's legit.
But then when we met, we had a drink and you said you were so nervous.
I was.
I was.
And I was.
And then once we met, he sucks out his hand.
He's like, hi, I'm Dian Scavino.
And I'm like, give me a hug.
And that broke the ice.
And then we talked for three hours and we just didn't stop talking.
And we were just getting really deep, really fast and talking about things we'd never shared with anyone else.
And then that day, I think we both knew there is majorly something here.
It was wild.
But when she showed up to meet for a drink, I was like, do I give her a hug?
Breaking The Ice With A Hug00:04:36
Hello?
Do I get her a kiss?
Hello.
She walks in and I extend my hand.
Hey, how you doing?
You know, and she's like, yeah, give me a hug.
And the conversationally, where things went thereafter for, you know, three hours.
And what's funny is, so she was at an event with Laura Trump prior over at the golf club.
And Laura, she was going to bring Laura and we were, because I've known Laura for, you know, 20, 25 years.
And Laura ended up not coming and going home.
And if she had come to meet us all for a drink, the conversationally and the engagement would have been totally different.
It would have been have a good night.
You know, we'll, we'll see you.
We'll see you soon.
Like.
I can't stop smiling because if anyone who knows you knows you are not this emotive, you are very quiet, reserved.
You get your work done and that's it.
Right.
Yeah.
I've always, I pride myself on being behind the scenes for all the years we've been on this journey and trying to, you know, be humble and do the right thing for the American people, obviously, and for the teams that have circled the president, you know, for the past 10 years in this journey of politics.
Like I pride myself on just doing the right thing, being a team player, bringing people together as best I can, being an honest broker.
And what you see is like with me all these years is like what you see is what you get.
How do you balance this dynamic at home?
Oh, geez.
Well, we do talk about work a lot, but both of us do.
But I think once we get to work, we try to completely unwind by watching just a TV show or going out for dinner or just talking to friends and family.
I think that we do shut it down.
But because it's been such a big part of both of our lives for so long, like it's ingrained in who we are at this point that it doesn't feel like work.
Yeah.
And I love to tell him all the gossip because they say that gossip makes relationships stronger, isn't that true?
Which is actually, go fact check that I hear it's true.
But it's never believed this gossip.
And he never used to be the kind of guy to like gossip.
No, he always had his door shut and never engaged in the world gossip.
No, I don't mean about just any world gossip.
Oh, yeah.
This isn't like all work driven.
Just did you see what Britney Spears or Team me up at night.
And I'm just like, and conversationally, it just could be anything.
It could be politics.
It could be sports.
It could be anything.
Just our dynamic and our engagement in conversation is just so energetic and exciting.
And we're like looped in with the news and everything going on and the way things are playing or not playing.
And, you know, look, we both, we both love our country very much.
We both love the president and his family very much.
We've both been around them for a really long time.
So it was kind of like a match made.
And like the relationship conversationally, like I will pick her brain sometimes on some things, but we're so, we agree on like 98.5% of the things.
Maybe even more than that.
It could be more.
Like we don't, I don't think we've really not seen either.
Well, sometimes with you, someone will say something nasty or it won't be the proper spin.
And I always say, we have to do something about this.
You have to do something.
And he says, no, I'm not going to do it.
I want to like fight for him.
But your approach is always less is more.
Well, my thing too is like, it's an ugly, it could be an ugly world out there, right?
And some people don't like to see some people succeed or do things.
There's a lot of jealousy.
And it goes in every role, every administration, every job, right, in corporate America.
Everybody's always out.
This administration honestly has been just like so incredible and so great and so fun.
And everybody's rowing in the same direction, working together.
And honestly, we get up in the morning and it's like a pleasure to serve, to go to work.
We love, like, literally, we love what we do.
We're honored to be here.
You know, there's not a day I don't like pulling to that White House.
Are you not tired of all of this after 35 years of working for the same person?
So, no, because every day is different.
That's true.
There's not a day that's the same.
It's like you're going out to fight the good fight.
Has it been challenging at times?
Yeah, it's been really challenging.
But, you know, you find out who your friends are through some certain times.
You find out who your friends are.
And, you know, we're very respectful of, I think, everybody.
And, you know, we have our groups of friends, you know.
And our favorite day ever in the admin was flying back with Katie and her three kids on Air Force Live.
Finding True Friends In Chaos00:04:21
Yes.
Yes.
My favorite part of it is like all of a sudden I'd look up and there's three kids under five right next to us and neither you nor Stephen were in the room and I'm watching these kids.
And I'm like, hey guys, what's going on?
And then all of a sudden she swoops back in and then you swoop back in and then it's just organized chaos.
They're such good kids.
But I love seeing all of the little kids and all of the families and it's just, it's so nice.
For example, over Christmas, like the kids' Christmas parties, it's just been so fun.
Speaking of being pro-family, you got engaged here in the Rose Garden.
Yes, we did.
September 24th.
Can you tell us what that was like to get permission to nerve-wracking?
But I knew in, God, probably August, September, like this is the one.
This is the one.
And I didn't know where to do it, but then I finally decided where to do it after the journey we were on for four years in this White House and then the four years out and the fight, fight, fight to get back in.
I said, I have to do it at the White House.
But I can't just go outside in the Rose Garden or outside the Oval Office and bring Erin back there and say, hey, will you marry me?
So I had to speak to the president.
So I was waiting for my time.
Susie was helping me out with the timing.
And I walked in the oval and I sat down right in front of him, resolute desk.
And he sits down.
I said, sir, I have a question to ask you.
He puts folds on his arms and he leans back in the chair.
I'm like, oh, I said, I feel like I'm asking my father for permission.
But do you mind if I marry Erin, ask her to marry me in the Rose Garden this evening or on the pathway outside the Oval?
And he has just a smirk on his face and a smile.
And he said, What?
I said, oh, boy.
Uh-oh.
Do you mind if I ask Erin to marry me tonight before the dinner in the Rose Garden?
There was a dinner in the Rose Garden that night.
So that's why I had it all.
I said, this is perfect.
He smiled from ear to ear.
You know, like, like I said, we've both been around him for a really long time.
And he could have not been happier, more gracious, sincere, to the point where he got the photographer and a videographer and said, go do it.
Go do it.
Absolutely.
I love it.
You are so lucky I took you on this journey, Scavino.
You know, and the nexus of meeting her was technically through him.
And he tells us that all that.
And he lets us know that.
He lets us know.
And, you know, he's genuinely very happy for us.
I feel it.
You know, he told me how in love I am and how in love she is.
And he was very supportive of it.
So we got engaged in the Rose Garden on September 24th.
And, you know, I put out a video, as many of you have seen.
And it's a great memory.
But the people online were like, she knew.
Yeah, no, she knew.
They're like, there were cameras everywhere.
It's the White House.
There are always cameras everywhere.
And Walt got involved, who works for the president.
He said, Dan, I need you to come outside and check on something.
Erin, stay here.
No way, Erin, you can come.
So I was all thrown off anyway.
So Walt helped us because she was in my office before the Rose Garden dinner.
And Walt and I worked it out where he would come in my office and say, Dan, the president wants you to check out the stone in the rose garden.
Which is so unbelievable.
See which one you think is better.
Well, and then I'm looking over there.
You're like, honey, look at that stone over there.
So people are like, oh, yeah, you just knew to turn your back.
He's like, look at that stone.
I'm like, I don't see it.
Where is it?
So all of it was very unbelievable.
Well, what happened was, so I said, okay, Walt, I'll come now.
And I left Aaron in the office.
And about five seconds later, we came back in.
I'm like, Aaron, come with us.
Just come with us.
So it was all played out beautifully.
And I thank Walt because he was a big part of the surprise.
What got me was when I'm telling her to look at the stone in the rose garden, the video doesn't show it, but I'm literally kneeling down for about a minute and a half before she actually turned around.
You know, the video middle of the day, she turned right around.
And it was wild.
It's a moment I'll never forget.
And it was the right place to do it.
The Beautiful Surprise Reveal00:05:28
And the right time.
And the right time.
You've both seen firsthand how the legacy media machine works.
What would be your advice for conservatives trying to control their narrative?
Oh, well, our favorite thing is about you can't really worry about the media because they're going to say what they want regardless of what you do.
You can be nice to them.
You can ignore them.
You can feed them stories, which we've never done ever.
But like you can do everything you think that would try to assuage their concerns or make them like you and they're going to say what they want.
So what we've decided is as long as the picture is a flattering picture of you.
Well, now they're going to change that maybe.
But yeah, like, look, I've been around the president a long time.
I can say, and even the reporters and the journalists out there know that like I've never spoken to them.
I've never shared anything.
I've never leaked anything.
I've never talked to them to the point where a lot of them, I think, respect it.
I've had like hit pieces on me where you like to comment.
No, go write your hit piece.
I have nothing to say.
Like I don't engage.
I don't have interest in that.
I have interest on focusing on the job and what I'm doing.
And I'm not into that game.
Now, some people maybe are into that stuff.
I'm just, I love serving the president, working for the American people.
I'm not interested in the media stuff.
And what she's talking about, as long as they use a nice picture.
So I've, you know, we've had some hit pieces or things written that, you know, weren't nice about us.
But as long as the picture looks good, it's great.
What do you think is the Republican Party's biggest messaging challenge right now?
I don't know.
I mean, do you, I don't think that we have them.
It depends.
Are we trying to placate the left?
Because I don't think that will ever work.
And that's not Donald Trump's strategy.
I think that we have to double down on the fact that we want a safe border, that we want our children to understand what their genders are, that we think that police are good for a community, that we do not like socialism.
And I think that placating liberal media is never the strategy.
I think it's being authentic to our values and our principles.
And truly right now, I mean, outside of that, I think the one area that is a little bit troubling is the rise in anti-Semitism among conservatives for me personally as someone who is Jewish.
And I really hope that that goes away expeditiously.
Is that fair?
It's fair.
You know, messaging is very strategic and very important in getting a message out there.
And I agree with everything you're saying.
What does it feel like to press send on a post that changes world markets or completely changes the news cycle?
Yeah, that's been a long journey the first four years around.
I don't really think about it much, to be honest with you.
Everything is, you know, authentic.
Authentic and in the moment.
And I, you know, I get some times people say, oh, you can like, I don't really think about it.
But I think on a messaging part for the Republican Party is getting out there and speaking.
The president often does his cabinet meetings and he does them live for two or three hours.
That's very strategic.
That is not having them in at the top of it, answer a couple of questions, cut off what they want, spin it.
No, run that thing live.
Now they'll still cut it and say, oh, he said this or he said that.
But it's whenever you can have those live cameras rolling and being in front of those cameras and putting out the right messaging and on behalf of the Republican Party and everybody marching from the same beat, right?
Like all together in unison on the border, just on everything.
And all the policies the president has is they're epic.
The left doesn't have policies.
No, they don't have policies.
They don't have policies.
It's, I don't understand where they're coming from most of the time, honestly.
Chasm between a philosophy and something you had thought of, Dan, for years?
Or is this something that came organically over time starting in 2015 and 2016 when the president started running of just being so transparent online, so transparent with your behind the scenes videos?
Because that's, I think, what you see now that like Margo has moved into is a lot of what you used to do.
And it's kind of become the Trump hallmark.
Is that something that you thought to do?
Or is that just how we do it?
No, it was really back in the beginning where, you know, you see what you see on TV, but it was like showing the dynamic of what the TV or what is not being shown.
And in the world, in the age of social media, anybody can be an influencer in regards to getting out messaging.
And as long as it's done the right way, like it's very important.
10 years ago, social media was where it started up and coming.
And we've owned it.
We've owned it for the last 10 years.
And that was the way of getting our messaging out.
And the teams have done a great job.
White House digital team does a phenomenal job.
Jaylene Doar and that team.
And what Margo's putting out, it's just, it's total gold because the stuff goes viral.
That stuff gets more views.
And it has from the beginning.
We're back in 15, more views than you're going to see on any major cable news network.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
And it's organic and it's getting out there.
And okay, so a major network won't play it.
But guess what?
It got about 25 more million views online.
What's your favorite?
What's your favorite meme or video that the White House has posted this year?
Ooh, there's so many good ones.
Honestly, they're just so talented and they make some people's heads explode.
And they're over the target when that happens.
Viral White House Memes00:04:08
The other day, what was your favorite?
The one with the eagle.
Mine was the cuffing season.
Like mine's easily cuffing season.
That was really good.
That was really good.
I have to tell you the way that we take ownership of things like the sombrero.
I was going to say they kept getting bigger and bigger.
And the sombrero got bigger.
And we were terrible people for doing the sombrero.
And the way they did it.
Like at first, people were like, you got to tell them to take this down.
And then it's like, we're going to double, triple, and quadruple down on it to the point where like.
I got to tell you, one of my favorite ones, it's priceless was Maduro dancing saying, come and get me, come and get me.
And he's dancing, come and get me, come and get me.
And then the eagle comes in and it's Trump, right?
And then it shows them.
And I got to tell you, that operation was absolutely incredible.
And, you know, the whole team and, you know, Steven and Secretary Hagseth and Rubio and the president and General Kane, it's like, I'll tell you what, America, like I sit in that room before we did the press conference and I just look at these guys.
America is in good hands.
I got to tell you, America is in good hands.
How does it feel differently from the first administration to now present day?
Well, you know, the first administration, there were a lot of things going on when, you know, we got in and it seemed like the investigations kicked in right away.
Russia, Russia, Russia, right?
We heard Russia.
I was going to say, what wouldn't you say that the people now, the team that you guys have is so good?
I have to tell you, and I actually went and I saw Secretary Besson today and I spoke to everybody at the Treasury.
And somebody asked me a similar question.
And the answer to that was the cabinet that is in place will go down as one of the greatest cabinets of all time.
Everybody is on the same team.
Everybody works together.
You see it for the two hours they're all talking around the table, but also then there's the behind the scenes and where everybody's working together, agency with an agency with an everybody's on the same team and nobody's out to out.
It's just, it's very impressive what is going on in the West Wing.
And, you know, the leadership with like Susie and just honestly, the right people in the right places and everybody.
Good intentions.
Correct.
With love for our country and to serve the American people and the president.
It's an incredible team that's been built out and it's fun.
So since you brought up the cabinet, we're going to go to our next section of cabinet confidential.
Who's most likely to call you at 2 a.m. with a completely off the rails idea?
Sitting at the cabinet table?
Off the rails idea?
Off the rails.
Oh, wow.
You're going to get me in trouble.
That's the intention.
You're going to get me in trouble.
Wow.
So who's going to call you in the middle of the night with a crazy idea?
You're around like when the phones ring.
Honestly, the ideas though aren't crazy.
I know what we're going on here, but like.
They're all sane.
They're all like legit and like solid.
Who's the pickiest eater?
You know who I get a kick out of?
You may have even heard this before.
Secretary of State.
Pay Marco or like Beavis and Butthead.
Not like Picky, but he loves his sweets.
He loves the Navy mess hall.
He loves like the ice cream.
Like we're sitting at a meeting and he's like, has like a, I hope he doesn't mind me telling this.
And he's amazing.
Love the guy.
He's eating like ice cream or the like it's it's incredible and uh but not picky.
I don't know if we really have any.
Who's the meme master of the administration?
Marco again.
It's funny, like a lot of them are into memes.
I would say overall meme masters, I have to give credit to the White House digital team.
I really do.
And to all of the folks out there that support the president that have been with us from the beginning, because as the president says, some of the memes they create and some of the content they create, you could go to Fifth Avenue or Park Avenue in New York City to an ad agency, spend a million or two million dollars.
They would not create what these Trump, the president calls them geniuses.
Favorite Dates And Coffee00:05:49
And some of the stuff is like mind-boggling.
But I give a lot of credit to the White House digital team.
They do a phenomenal job and they engage with everybody out there.
But the memes are, the memes are where it's at.
And we did the meme.
We started meming back in like 15 and 16, like, oh, real professional.
Oh, yeah.
I remember I was a tool and being called a tool for using memes.
Yeah.
And I'm like, that's where the messaging is at.
So now we're going to play our game of would you rather?
You both answer.
This is challenging.
Which would you rather give up during campaign season?
Coffee or cocktails, me or him, both.
You know my answer.
I'd rather give up coffee.
Well, the campaign season, I know I sound like a very uh goody, goody two-shoes, but I didn't drink on you know, on the campaign trail because we were just going so hard, to be honest with you.
Like, and I couldn't give up the coffee, like the coffee, or then there was the Celsius, but back then in the day, it was, I don't even remember what it was.
Somebody said, You better stop drinking that.
You're gonna, you're gonna drop.
I don't even know what it was.
Red Bull or something?
I don't know what, yeah, maybe Red Bull or whatever, but it was like very energetic.
But I couldn't give up the coffee because he's up bright and early, and I need my caffeine.
Um, you know, and there were no times.
I know it sounds crazy, but we would go three, four, five rallies sometimes, or and we weren't checking into hotels till like freaking 10 o'clock at night, 11 o'clock at night, midnight.
So there weren't too many times for cocktelling.
Would you rather relive your first date or your favorite date?
I think they're all my favorite with me.
Yeah, doll that was a joke.
It was a joke, people.
I think everyone gets that.
Well, I don't even know what our favorite date would have been.
Oh, you know, it's every date we go on is like we have so much fun when we go out to dinner with friends or with family or just Laura's birthday.
It was so fun.
Yeah, we always have fun.
And, you know, we had fun last night.
I mean, we have fun every time we do something.
We're surround ourselves with good people and people you can trust and people you can love and people of the same beliefs and values.
And it's like every time we go out to dinner, it's our favorite.
Yeah, everything's our favorite.
Oh, I love you, baby.
I love you.
So, you know, it's funny.
Like, it just takes one little clip from this show to like, oh, Scavino.
Look at him.
I love this, though.
I can't get enough.
I cannot get enough right now.
You don't want to show that you're human.
I understand how all this works.
Would you rather have your phone battery stuck at 2% or your inbox stuck at 20,000 unread emails?
Well, yeah, if I had to go without my phone, I don't know how I would do without it.
So I think I'll take, as crazy as it sounds, the 20,000 emails.
I agree.
When we went on a mission, it was like a 12-hour flight and they took our phones and we had to turn the phones off.
The president at one point goes, you can't be doing too well.
And I'm sitting there like, you know, he goes, Scavino, how are you doing?
Like, withdraw.
Oh, it was, it's tough not having a phone and communicating.
Like, you know, you step away for an hour and then you go back and your, you know, phone's lit up.
But I'll take the emails.
Would you rather post a cringy couple photo in matching outfits or forget your anniversary on camera?
I want to pose as many photos of us in cringy outfits because I love a college, I love Halloween.
Yeah, I don't mind any of it.
In fact, I posted one of her and I on like X, I think it was.
And, you know, it's kind of funny to see people's reactions and either their love or either their hate or yeah.
So I'm in the same boat.
Would you rather be shadow banned or ratioed?
Ratioed.
Yeah, well, the chances are more likely to be shadow banned, unfortunately.
I mean, yeah, I'll take the ratio.
I don't think you've ever been ratioed.
There's no way.
I think maybe sometimes.
No way.
Yeah.
Well, it is what it is.
You're always posting the popular opinion.
Yeah, but I don't.
Yeah, I also don't mind.
I'm not ratioed.
Sometimes it creates a little bit of a ratio, but you're so good.
You know, I don't even think about it.
It doesn't bother me.
What's your favorite date night spot in DC?
Nobu.
Nobu is very good.
Where do we go?
Philippe Chow.
Last night I liked Joe's.
Okay.
Philippe Chow is very good.
What's the Mexican place?
I like the Ned, the Mexican place.
Mivita.
Mivita.
Have you been to Mivita?
It's pretty good.
Oh, it's very good.
Very good.
No, I like Joe's and the Occidental across the street is very good, too.
That was the place we went.
Maestro's.
Yeah, that was good too.
Maestro's.
I actually once was at a Chili's and the president called.
I wasn't there for the record.
I was not there.
I love chilies.
And we were talking.
I stepped outside and I said, sir, I'm eating the best boneless buffalo chicken you could even think of.
And the blue cheese is so good.
And he's like, what's it?
Chilies?
And I was like, sir, you got to try these things.
Like these things, I still have to get him the boneless buffalo chicken fingers.
They're like little nuggets.
And I get them at the PBI airport.
I intentionally go early to get.
I have those with you.
What's it called?
The triple decker platter?
It just froze and reheated.
Oh, it's so good.
So good.
I'm a very simple eater.
What shows are you binging on TV right now?
We just finished The Beast in Me.
Getting him caught up on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
Good.
What was the other one we watched?
It was like three different seasons.
White Lotus.
White Lotus.
Yeah, that's good.
Picking Three Special People00:05:57
Like crazy.
But we try and watch get into like a series of things.
Something mindless that doesn't involve politics.
So we can.
What's your typical order from the Navy Mess?
I will either have a grilled cheese with American cheese if I get something.
This morning you had a bacon, egg, and cheese that I went in his office and promptly ate.
So I ordered a bacon, egg, and cheese this morning, but didn't have time to eat it because I had to go to Treasury.
I came back from Treasury.
It was half gone.
She said, I ate your bacon, egg, and cheese.
So I didn't even get a chance to eat it.
But I like grilled cheese with french fries, extra ketchup.
Best trip you've ever gone on with the president.
Oh, man, there's been so many cool trips.
So many cool trips.
I would say Italy ranks up there, right?
Best hotel you guys have stayed in.
I would have to go with the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, Chicago, New York.
How's that?
Perpetually on message.
We love it.
Love to see it.
The president is famous for his Spotify playlist.
What's your favorite song on the playlist?
Man, there's so many great songs.
He's playing them for us the other night.
Yeah, they're all over the map, too.
You know, I have to give Lee Greenwood the shout out because, like, honestly, it's just an iconic song that I've heard thousands and thousands of times.
So when he plays it, I love it.
When he plays YMCA, you think of him doing the dance up there.
The Bocelli.
Bocelli, yeah, it's just mind-boggling the stuff.
Pavriotti.
Pavarotti.
Pavriotti sigh, yeah.
Mind-boggling.
Well, he's done some of the other, too.
It's, you know.
What's your go-to hype song?
Oh, that's an easy one.
Yeah, we could probably say it at the same time.
You have your phone?
I'll call your phone and we could play.
It's my ringer.
It's my ringer for.
When is it?
One, two, three.
End your sand, man.
That's his ringer when he calls me.
I'm a big fan of.
People ask what our wedding song is going to be.
I think it's going to have to be interesting.
So our final question before we get to our real, final question is, when's the wedding?
When's the wedding?
You're clearly more in love than like anyone I've ever met in my air.
We have no plans.
We're airing this next Tuesday.
When's the wedding?
Be about two and a half or three weeks short of when we're going to get away from the market.
Honey, you are not supposed to say it.
We're not supposed to say that.
It's a surprise wedding.
So we're having an engagement party on February 1st.
Don't say the, okay.
And we may or may not be.
I wasn't supposed to say this.
The date.
It's okay.
You can say whatever you want.
Go ahead.
You, you're the one that's going to be.
So I wasn't supposed to say anything.
I'm an honest guy and I'm an honest broker and I'm a fair broker.
like, look, there's a chance that on February 1st, we may, the engagement party may transform.
Turn into something more.
Into a wedding.
And I have many thoughts for that, though.
Like, I'm thinking advanced.
I'm thinking midterms are coming up in November.
What are we going to do?
Get married in October?
Yeah.
Right.
Or after.
Like, no.
It's kind of like, so we're considering on February 1st transitioning into engagement party and then surprising everybody.
Well, now it's not going to be that big of a surprise.
It won't be that much of a surprise, but we'll see.
To be determined.
Stay tuned.
All right.
So our last question we asked every guest on the podcast, if you could host a dinner party with three people, dead or alive, who's sitting at the table and what are you eating?
Aaron, I'm going to let you go first with that.
There you each go.
So we each get three people.
Okay.
Well, I obviously want my dan there.
That's one.
I want my son there.
That's two.
And my sister.
Family is the most important thing.
And what are we eating?
Sushi, what else?
I agree.
I made it easy.
You don't have to have me at your dinner.
It's a fascinating question.
It really is.
Man, there's so many people.
You can go like George Washington.
It would be me and who?
Three and three people.
And what are you eating?
I get to pick the three people.
Dead or alive.
Oh, wow.
Man.
Maybe start with what are you eating?
A chicken parmesan.
Okay.
Got to have my chicken parmesan.
Is that okay with the chicken parm?
As far as three people, you know, I would love to sit down with Fred Trump, his father.
Yeah.
Because the way he speaks about him and the things he's learned from him is just very fascinating.
And it's what made him who he is.
And I've always just been always very interested.
I would say Fred Trump.
And I think you know who I really enjoy speaking with?
I'd like to have Elon Musk.
We've done that before, right?
Like we've all been around.
But I would say Elon, I think that's a given.
Yeah, I would have to go with Fred Trump, Elon, the President of the United States.
Plus Aaron.
Plus Aaron.
Well, there's so many people.
That's an amazing question.
I love that everyone's eating the chicken parm.
It's an amazing question.
And the conversation there, I just, the conversation would be very engaging, very fascinating.
Like to hear from the president's father, like sitting there with him would be pretty iconic.
And then Elon coming back into the fall too and just conversationally, the guy's brilliant.
The guy is just brilliant.
You know, so it would be, that would be it.
Thank you so much for doing this.
Thank you for having us.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for watching this episode of the Katie Miller Podcast.
Don't forget we're available every Tuesday night at 6 p.m. Eastern where you get your podcast.
Don't forget to like, follow, subscribe, and share.
Thanks so much for watching this episode with Dan Skavina and Aaron Elmore.