WASHINGTON – For a man who loves the spotlight, Donald Trump has been noticeably out of sight since his triumph in last week’s presidential election.

There were no rallies, no press conferences, no speeches. Instead, Trump has spent most of his first week as president-elect behind closed doors at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Florida, where he works the phones, reconnects with foreign leaders and builds his new administration.

Trump is hardly in isolation. He is surrounded by advisors, friends and paying members of his club, who give him advice when selecting people for the highest positions in government. Elon Muskthe world’s richest man, whose companies have billions of dollars in federal contracts, has been a constant presence. Some see Musk as the second most influential figure in Trump’s immediate orbit after his campaign manager turned chief of staff, Susie Wiles.

“Very productive day at work by the transition team,” Musk posted on X, his social media company, Monday evening.

Trump is expected to return to the public on Wednesday, when he’s going to the White House meet the president Joe Biden and visits the Capitol to consult with House Speaker Mike Johnson. Overall, Trump is setting the stage for his second presidency at a much faster pace than his first.

This is not to say that the private process is without the cutthroat atmosphere that Trump has long fostered within his orbit. A former White House official, still close to Trump, compared the situation at Mar-a-Lago to the drama series Game of Thrones, and another former Trump official also described a chaotic race for jobs. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal dynamics.

Eight years ago, when Trump won a resounding victory over Hillary Clinton, he didn’t stay out of sight for long. He visited President Barack Obama at the White House two days after the election, then met with Republican leaders at the Capitol.

“We are going to act very strongly on immigration,” he said at the time. “We will act very strongly on health care. And we are looking for jobs. Jobs in the big leagues.

At the time in New York, Trump Tower was being transformed into the set for a new political reality show. The media camped out in the lobby of Trump’s namesake skyscraper to see who was coming and going. Sometimes Trump would take the elevator to give an update or show off a guest.

In one notable moment in December, the rapper then known as Kanye West appeared with Trump, who said the two had been “friends for a long time.” When asked what they discussed, Trump replied: “Life. We talked about life.” Trump later has been the subject of strong criticism in 2022 for having dinner with Ye and a white nationalist Holocaust denier.

Eight years ago, Trump also held transition meetings in New Jersey, at his Bedminster golf course, where the media gathered for several days for a parade of candidates in front of the assembled cameras.

Some, like future Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, found themselves with job offers. Others, like Mitt Romney, have not. After Romney’s meeting, the two men walked out together and shook hands next to an American flag. Trump gave a quick thumbs up and said “everything went well.”

The current situation is very different. There is no public access to Mar-a-Lago, which appears to be under even tighter security than in the aftermath of the two assassination attempts on Trump.

The traffic circle in front of the property’s entrance is completely barricaded and vehicles from the Beach County Sheriff’s Office and Secret Service have been seen standing guard, along with unmarked police cars, black vans and a golf cart. golf course on a recent afternoon.

Instead, Trump announced his choices in statements and posts on his Truth Social site, while his whereabouts were captured on social media by club members and their guests, who, as always, almost unlimited access.

In one video, he is seen dancing to “YMCA” on the club’s crowded terrace. In another, he and his wife, Melania, are cheered as they arrive for dinner. They were also spotted sitting together at a table with Musk.

Trump is known to have only left Mar-a-Lago once since the election, to visit another of his properties. On Sunday he returned to his neighboring golf course – the same course where an eagle-eyed Secret Service agent spotted the barrel of a gun pointed through the property fence, foiling a possible shootout – to play with his teenage granddaughter, Kai.

“Sundays with Grandpa,” she posted on Instagram. Other photos from that day show Trump in a golf cart, wearing a white golf shirt, then sitting in a burgundy leather chair in the club’s restaurant next to Kai while someone leans in for a conversation.

Musk was also spotted at the class, where he was introduced to members. Kai posted a photo of herself posing with Musk and her young son, saying Trump was “obtain uncle status. »

Indeed, Musk sometimes appears like a member of the family. On election night, he was spotted giving his son a piggyback ride to a Mar-a-Lago ballroom and joins a family photo of the president-elect with his children and grandchildren.

Since then, he has tried to leave his mark on every issue facing the new administration, according to people familiar with his efforts, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the dynamic. His attempts to influence extend to issues beyond his expertise, such as border security.

Trump announced his intention to give Musk a formal role oversee a group that would recommend ways to make the federal government more efficient. Musk suggested he could achieve more than $2 trillion in savings, or nearly a third of total annual spending.

Trump too added Musk in a post-election call with the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskywho hopes that the United States will continue to provide military assistance to repel the Russian invasion. Both Trump and Musk have expressed skepticism about supporting Ukraine, and Trump often speaks admiringly of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He vowed to end the war before Inauguration Day.

Positions in the next Trump administration are now being offered much more quickly than the first time around. In 2016, Trump announced the makeup of his senior leadership team, including his chief of staff, on the Sunday following the election. But he waited 10 days for his first Cabinet appointment

This time, Trump quickly named Wiles as chief of staff. He also chose Stephen Miller, a staunch anti-immigrant, as his policy advisor, and Tom Homan as his “border czar.” Trump nominated New York Rep. Elise Stefanik to be ambassador to the United Nations and former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.

This year, competition for jobs has been intense. Although Trump’s election in 2016 was a surprise, this time around the allies spent four years putting together personnel lists and policy proposals. Candidates are represented by public relations agencies and lobbyists. One potential Cabinet pick has hired consultants to try to boost his image.

While Trump had said he already had people in mind for various roles, Howard Lutnick, co-chairman of Trump’s transition personnel team, previously told The Associated Press that he had not discussed of any endorsement with Trump before his victory because the President-elect is notoriously superstitious.

“What I do is seek out the best candidates for the position. So for each role, there will be, let’s say, eight extraordinary candidates – fully vetted and fully capable of being confirmed by the Senate, okay? he said. “Then he’ll start interviewing and he’ll start brainstorming. It’s up to him, right? He is the one who chooses.

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Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Washington and Stephany Matat in Palm Beach, Fla., contributed to this report.