Trump at White House to limit staff with direct access to president

PALM BEACH, Fla. — The number of people with direct access to the president will be more limited when Donald Trump takes office in two weeks, as new chief of staff Susie Wiles seeks to streamline new West Wing operations.

In an effort to tighten lines of communication with Trump, the transition team is reducing the number of senior White House officials, given the designation “assistant to the president,” which gives a staffer the privilege to enter the Oval Office and invite non-official guests to meet the president.

“There will be a limited number of aides to the president,” said a person familiar with the transition matter.

Trump’s new legislative affairs director and political affairs director are among those not given that title; these positions generally carry this designation.

Instead, top officials in the new White House are seeking to direct the flow of information toward Trump, primarily through his deputy chiefs of staff, including his longtime trusted aides Stephen Miller, Taylor Budowich and Dan Scavino.

The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment.

During Trump’s first administration, more senior officials were given the latitude to communicate directly with Trump.

The new arrangement will reflect the type of structure Wiles sought to implement during the 2024 presidential campaign, which consolidated direct decision-making power to a small core of senior staff, but did not seek to restrict Trump’s own ability to communicate with whom he desired. It’s a strategy that has prevailed during the two years of his candidacy and has resulted in little internal drama compared to Trump’s first eight years as a political figure.

A source told NBC News that while, in theory, access should go through aides, each individual’s relationship with Trump will ultimately determine their level of access.