Trump Keeps Cabinet Meeting Brief
WASHINGTON — President Trump is aiming for shorter Cabinet meetings this year.
During the first meeting of 2026 on Thursday, he promised it wouldn’t drag on like the last one, which lasted three hours. That previous meeting had him appearing to doze off, leading to some jokes about him falling asleep.
“Last time I had a press conference, it went for three hours, and some folks said, ‘I closed my eyes,’ so I won’t be addressing the whole table today,” Trump stated, choosing only a few secretaries to speak.
He candidly added, “It’s getting pretty boring,” prompting laughter around the room. “I just wanted to wrap it up and get out of here. I couldn’t sleep.”
Interestingly, Trump avoided questions from reporters, a departure from his typical approach.
This meeting lasted about an hour and 20 minutes, and notably, Trump didn’t call on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, nor did he address the ongoing immigration issues in Minnesota.
This week, he had met with Noem for nearly two hours following serious incidents, including two shootings in January.
In response, he sent border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota to adjust the government’s enforcement approach. Homan indicated there would be “significant changes” but did not specify how extensive those changes would be.
Democrats have been criticizing Noem, urging Trump to consider her removal or impeachment if he regains control of the House in November. Trump, however, defended her, saying she had “done a good job.”
In the meeting, Trump did not address Labor Secretary Lori Chavez Delemer, who is facing scrutiny over an alleged misconduct issue, nor did he seek updates from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Attorney General Pam Bondi, although he did express support for them.
Instead of focusing on pressing issues in Minnesota, Trump appeared to encourage discussions on topics he favored. He called on Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to speak about rebuilding Gaza and ending the conflict in Ukraine. He also claimed that Putin had agreed to cease bombing for a week due to the cold weather.
Trump remarked, “I personally asked President Putin not to open fire on Kyiv and other cities for a week. It’s unusually cold, record cold over there.”
He praised Environmental Protection Agency Secretary Lee Zeldin for improving California’s permitting process after last year’s wildfires.
The discussion also included Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on new drugs for Trump RX and Housing Secretary Scott Turner on lowering housing costs.
At one point, Trump asked Energy Secretary Chris Wright for updates on energy production, leading him to criticize windmills. “By the way, all the windmills are frozen,” he noted, comparing them unfavorably to “clean, beautiful coal.”
One key point mentioned was that Trump plans to announce his choice for the next Federal Reserve Chairman next week. He suggested, “I’m sure he’ll do a good job. We pay too much attention to the Fed. The Fed’s interest rates are too high. Unacceptably high. We should set minimum interest rates.”
