"Cabinet meetings, lunches and Oval Office drop-ins can abruptly turn into discussions about footwear. Did you get the shoes? he will ask colleagues, according to several people familiar with the ritual quoted by the Journal. Some have even found themselves trying them on in the Oval Office. One female White House official observed wryly: All the boys have them."
"Trump, now 79, reportedly began searching last year for something more comfortable to wear through long days in office. Having settled on Florsheims, he began ordering pairs for others as well. According to the White House, he pays for the shoes personally. Rubio and Vance received their Florsheims after a December meeting in the Oval Office."
"Trump's shoe leather largesse will do little to dispel perceptions of his White House as a boys' club. Research by the Brookings Institution found that his administration is the least diverse this century. In his first 300 days, the total share of women confirmed by the Senate was just 16%."
Donald Trump has developed an unusual practice of gifting Florsheim dress shoes to cabinet members, advisers, and visiting officials. During meetings in the Oval Office, Trump inquires about shoe sizes and presents leather dress shoes with salesman-like enthusiasm. The shoes, retailing around $145, became Trump's preference after he sought more comfortable footwear for long workdays. Recipients include Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and cabinet members Pete Hegseth and Howard Lutnick. Trump reportedly pays for the shoes personally. This ritual has become so normalized that officials feel social pressure to wear them, with some trying them on in the Oval Office itself. The practice underscores perceptions of Trump's White House as predominantly male-oriented, with research showing women comprised only 16% of Senate-confirmed positions in his first 300 days.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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