Trump’s first three Cabinet meetings feature more press questions and answers than all of Biden’s

President Trump answered nearly 100 questions from the press during his first three Cabinet meetings this year — nearly 20 times the number answered by President Biden in the same setting during four years in office, according to data compiled by The Washington Times.

Mr. Trump fielded roughly 20 questions from the press during his third Cabinet meeting Thursday. He answered a whopping 55 questions during his first Cabinet meeting in February and 15 questions during his second meeting last month.

That brings the total number of questions Mr. Trump has answered during his Cabinet meetings, which have lasted between an hour and an hour and a half, to roughly 90.

In contrast, Mr. Biden answered a total of five press questions over the course of nine Cabinet meetings during his term. Mr. Biden spoke during the public portion of all his Cabinet meetings for a total of 45 minutes, or 5 minutes per meeting. He never spoke for longer than 7 minutes during any of the public portions of Cabinet meetings while in office. 

“I don’t believe there’s any other president that allowed the press to come into a meeting such as this,” Mr. Trump said at a Cabinet meeting Thursday. “These are very sacred meetings. There are very private meetings, but we have nothing to hide and I think it’s good.”

“We want to be transparent,” the president added before going around the room to listen to agency heads share updates on their progress carrying out Mr. Trump’s policies.

Mr. Trump has also held Cabinet meetings at a more frequent clip than his predecessor. He held his first meeting on Feb. 26, nearly one month after returning to the White House, and has participated in one every month since. Mr. Biden held his first Cabinet meeting on April 10, 2021, and did not host his second until later July of that year.

President Obama held 19 Cabinet meetings during his first term, more than twice the amount held by Mr. Biden, according to data compiled by former CBS News correspondent Mark Knoller.

Mr. Trump held 25 Cabinet meetings during his first term. 

Several of Mr. Biden’s Cabinet meetings sparked controversy. He was roundly criticized after his last Cabinet meeting in September 2024 because first lady Jill Biden did most of the talking during its public portion. Mr. Biden delivered brief introductory remarks before turning it over to his wife, who then led the meeting. Her comments were more than double in length of her husband’s.

It was Mr. Biden’s first such meeting in nearly a month. Cabinet officials attending the meeting received folders of notes that included the signatures of both Mr. Biden and the first lady, which raised questions about who was running the country.

“Wow. A visibly exhausted Joe Biden just held a full Cabinet meeting for the first time in 11 months and immediately turned the mic over to his wife,” Steve Cortes, a former Trump adviser, posted on social media at the time.

At the time, Mr. Biden said Mrs. Biden needed to speak at the Cabinet meeting because Congress was debating passing a continuing resolution that would have provided funding for many of the issues she was passionate about, such as cancer research and education.

Mr. Biden also raised eyebrows during his first meeting in 2021, where he spoke for 3 minutes and read from a binder.

Mr. Trump convened his Cabinet at the White House on Thursday one day after he issued a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs for nearly all foreign trading partners, signaling that he’s open to negotiations. The three-month reprieve, which excluded China, does not apply to the 10% baseline tariff Mr. Trump announced last week.

“Everybody wants to come and make a deal and we’re working with a lot of different countries and it’s all going to work out very well,” Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump’s Cabinet officials also updated him on efforts to slash wasted fraud and abuse in their agencies.