A Trump appointee has reportedly been branded a “diva” over a number of unusual requests to his staff.
According to four sources who spoke to The Atlantic, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s office had asked his political appointees to learn how to bake chocolate chip cookies, act as servers during a multi-course meal with guests, and dispatch a U.S. Park Police helicopter when he was running late to a flight with President Donald Trump.
Concerns over Burgum’s odd requests have been brought up with senior White House officials and widely discussed by lower-level Interior Department staff, The Atlantic reported. A person familiar described the secretary as “Doug the diva.”
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Interior spokesperson Katie Martin dismissed the “pathetic smears” from “unnamed cowards” in a statement to The Atlantic: “Everyone knows Secretary Burgum always leads with gratitude and is humbly working with President Trump.”
Burgum’s chief of staff, JoDee Hanson, reportedly asked staff to learn how to use industrial ovens at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., to make freshly baked cookies when the secretary has guests over.
Two Interior Department officials pushed back on those claims, telling The Atlantic that the cookies are made from store-bought dough and are merely part of the agency’s hospitality to visitors.
In another instance, Burgum’s staff reportedly instructed four political appointees in the Office of the Secretary to serve food and later wash the dishes from the secretary’s lunch meeting with Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission head Mark Christie.
The two Interior Department officials said staff help serve food when Burgum has guests because the department has no cafeteria, adding that the incident was the only time the secretary hosted lunch there.
In February, Burgum’s security team reportedly requested the use of a Park Police helicopter when his team became concerned that he would miss the departure of Air Force One for Trump’s flight over the newly-renamed Gulf of America.
“When it was clear that afternoon D.C. traffic would not allow him to travel by vehicle, the decision was made to take a helicopter to ensure he arrived at Andrews on time to staff President Trump, which is a core mission of the Secretary of the Interior,” Martin told The Atlantic.
The White House has also waved off reports of Burgum’s unusual requests.
“Only The Atlantic could spin baking warm cookies for guests as a bad thing. Cold-hearted people!” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told the magazine. “Secretary Burgum is doing an outstanding job leading the Department of Interior.”
