Meet the trailblazing deaf man who reads your letter to Biden

Presented by ACLI, Finseca, IRI, NAFA and NAIFA

Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice and Daniel Lippman.

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PROGRAMMING NOTE: We’ll be off for Thanksgiving this Thursday and Friday, but back to our normal schedule on Monday, Nov. 28. We hope distance makes the heart grow fonder.

Over the past 31 years at the White House, GREGG TRAINOR has been reading, sorting, and forwarding the letters and packages people send to the president. As the non-partisan director of special projects for presidential correspondence, he helps the occupant of the Oval Office hear Americans’ concerns.

He’s done it as an unstated trailblazer: Trainor is deaf.

Since he began working at the White House in 1991 under President GEORGE H.W. BUSH, Trainor has opened, in his estimation, over a million letters and packages by now. They give him a unique view into the country: the sad, the funny, and even the gross. His time at the White House also reveals the advances and shortcomings of workplaces in accommodating deaf people over the past three decades.

Last Thursday, West Wing Playbook sat down with Trainor and an interpreter in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building to get his perspective and understand his story.

He said one of the strangest packages sent to the White House was a dark pink bathroom rug for GEORGE W. BUSH. “And they wrote a letter and they’re like, ‘nice rug.’ And that’s all they said,” Trainor recalled. During the Clinton administration, a child wrote and asked if BILL CLINTON kept UFOs in the basement of the White House.

While every president receives love letters — which are forwarded to the Secret Service — Clinton received the most of the five presidents for whom Trainor’s worked. He recalled one note to the 42nd president imprinted with a lipstick kiss.

And the grossest package? A random blanket that had, it appeared and smelled, been peed on. “I touched it with my hands!” he lamented. “I packed it up, I left, and I’m washing my hands really quickly.”

Many of the letters, however, are more illuminating than colorful.

“What impacts me is Social Security income — when it’s not enough to live — and they write letters about that, and veterans when they struggle with the VA and receiving benefits,” he said. “Those are the ones with the most issues throughout my 31 years, it’s been very consistent… It’s better, but there’s people who are still struggling, and they’re still facing obstacles when trying to receive benefits, no matter what party is in office.”

Besides his professional responsibilities, Trainor also had to navigate a workplace that initially was not set-up to accommodate him — even after President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.

Trainor said he is the first deaf staffer in the presidential correspondence office. When he started, he and his supervisor would sometimes have to communicate with each other by taking turns typing on a computer keyboard. He said his repeated requests for a teletype machine were shrugged off until the Clinton administration. Interpreters weren’t always available so he sometimes attended meetings with little idea of what was being said.

Interpreters are always on hand now but they are hired from outside agencies, which means he doesn’t always get a consistent person familiar with his job, the terminology associated with it, and the White House writ large.

Even meeting presidents has come with a dose of awkwardness. He recalled that the first President Bush didn’t learn he was deaf until they met. “He was like uhhhh… shocked and didn’t really know how to interact.” The president couldn’t decide whether to shake Trainor’s right or left hand, implying the deaf might shake hands differently. “Very awkward,” he recalled with a grin.

President George W. Bush was much more conscientious. “He waited for me to look at him because he knew that I needed to lip read,” he said. “But still, I didn’t understand him. I couldn’t read his lips, because he had a heavy accent.” He appreciated the effort, though. BARACK OBAMA knew some sign language and signed to Trainor when they met (he hasn’t met JOE BIDEN yet but he has his fingers crossed).

Trainor, who was born deaf and wore a hearing aid from a young age, lost what little hearing he had after turning 50. “I was depressed for around two years,” the 63-year-old said. He ultimately decided to receive cochlear implants, which improve hearing but are controversial in the deaf community, including among Trainor’s friends, for the signal they send that being deaf is a deficiency. “They just thought that I wanted to become hearing,” he said. He added that he has no regrets about getting the procedure.

While he still can’t have a telephone conversation, Trainor now can enjoy music because he can detect certain instruments or a few words and phrases. His favorite artists include Fleetwood Mac and DAVID BOWIE, who he listens to on his drive in from Maryland in the morning and on an iPod he keeps in his office.

Through the past few decades, Trainor has become a pillar of the correspondence office. “I first knew him when I was an OPC intern 10 years ago in the Obama administration, and I can confidently say he’s universally adored by generations of staff members who have come through the White House mail room,” said GARRET LAMM, who is now Trainor’s supervisor.

Trainor largely seems happy with his job and life but he did have a message for hearing people. “Show more respect to deaf people,” he said. “In the federal government jobs and the public in general. Everywhere.”

MESSAGE US — Are you PETER NEAL, Biden’s new grandson-in-law? We want to hear from you! And we’ll keep you anonymous. Email us at [email protected].

POTUS PUZZLER

This one’s from Allie. In 1971, TRICIA NIXON, the daughter of President RICHARD NIXON, married EDWARD FINCH COX in a White House ceremony. The pair’s massive wedding cake also made headlines because of its size — how tall was it?

(Answer at the bottom.)

The Oval

COLD TURKEY: Declaring that all the votes were in and no “fowl play” reported, Biden pardoned two turkeys, CHOCOLATE and CHIP, Monday morning in the annual pre-Thanksgiving ceremony. The event was held on the expansive South Lawn, a shift from prior years that allowed for what Biden boasted was the “largest National Turkey presentation ever held at the White House.”

Our ADAM CANCRYN reports that among those making an appearance were the Bidens’ dog, COMMANDER, who salivated over the turkeys from up on the Truman balcony, a pair of Biden’s grandkids and his son, HUNTER BIDEN. And while the birds were the clear main course — weighing in at 46 and 47 pounds each — Biden couldn’t resist dishing out a side of politics. The only “red wave this season,” he joked, will be the cranberry sauce that Commander knocks over. (Badum CHING!)

Chocolate, given an opportunity by Biden to say a few words during the ceremony, declined to comment.

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: This piece by MICHAEL TOMASKY for the New Republic about how Biden’s focus on democracy and legislative accomplishments were vindicated by midterm results. Tomasky writes that if the president’s “health holds up, Democrats are going to be hard-pressed to come up with good reasons to say no to a guy who passed several pieces of major legislation, held his factionalized party together, and defied history in the midterms. The subset of Democratic presidents in the past century who can make all three of those boasts is exactly two: Biden — and FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT.”

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO READ: This story by CNN’s EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE about how Democrats think Biden could beat DONALD TRUMP in a potential 2024 presidential match, but are skeptical about his chances of defeating other potential Republican contenders, like Florida Gov. RON DESANTIS.

When asked how they felt about Biden’s chances against Republicans “who could make a generational argument without the baggage Trump brings, many Democrats’ voices tend to tighten,” Dovere reports. “Others point out that nearly all of Democrats’ key midterm victories were narrowly won, leaving them worried about how little room for error there likely will be next time. Four Democratic members of Congress, asking not to be named to speak candidly, estimated that at least half of their colleagues would pick someone other than Biden as their 2024 nominee — if they could vote by secret ballot.”

ROOTING FOR RON: Some progressives are hoping White House chief of staff RON KLAIN will stay in the role — energized by the administration’s efforts on climate, student debt and marijuana, our Adam Cancryn reports. The president has also asked Klain to stay.

Biden “was not my first or second choice for president, but I am a convert,” said Rep. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-Wash.), head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “I never thought I would say this, but I believe he should run for another term and finish this agenda we laid out.” Congressional moderates also voiced their support for Klain, with Sen. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-Minn.) calling him “an accessible, responsive partner to members of Congress from across the political spectrum.”

THE BUREAUCRATS

THE OTHER BIDEN WORLD WEDDING: There was no official White House photo or statement from the president announcing the nuptials, but the wedding of two administration officials Saturday evening drew a who’s who of administration and Biden campaign staff. ROB FLAHERTY, the White House director of digital strategy, and CARLA FRANK, the deputy director of the office of political strategy and outreach, celebrated their marriage with family and friends at Union Station.

Among those spotted: Klain and deputy chief of staff BRUCE REED, senior Biden adviser ANITA DUNN, White House communications director KATE BEDINGFIELD, deputy communications director KATE BERNER, acting principal deputy assistant secretary of State BILL RUSSO, deputy press secretary ANDREW BATES, MEGAN APPER, a senior adviser at the State Department, and T.J. DUCKLO, communications director for Nashville’s mayor and a former White House deputy press secretary.

FIRST IN WEST WING PLAYBOOK: JENNA VALLE-RIESTERA is now a spokesperson at the Treasury Department, DANIEL LIPPMAN has learned. She previously was press secretary for the Senate Judiciary Committee under Chair DICK DURBIN (D-Ill.).

— JEREMY BERNTON is now White House liaison at the State Department, Lippman has also learned. He most recently was executive secretary at USAID.

NO NEW FRIENDS: It seems Securities and Exchange Commission Chair GARY GENSLER is running out of allies as a result of his ambitious regulatory agenda — Wall Street, Republicans and even some Democrats are out to get him, our DECLAN HARTY reports. It’s not only lawmakers and those in the finance world who are openly griping. SEC staff, grappling with a growing workload and return-to-office policies, are also irked at Gensler.

Agenda Setting

MILITARY EXPANSION: The U.S. is looking to expand its military presence in the Philippines and forge a stronger relationship with the nation, Vice President KAMALA HARRIS said as she met with the nation’s leadership while overseas Monday.

“An armed attack on the Philippines armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft in the South China Sea would invoke U.S. Mutual Defense commitments,” Harris said. “And that is an unwavering commitment that we have to the Philippines.” AP’s JIM GOMEZ has more details.

RELATED: “Harris’s visit to Philippine island could raise tensions with China,” by WaPo’s MERYL KORNFIELD and JHESSET THRINA ENANO.

What We're Reading

U.S. Presses Allies to Tighten Up Sanctions Enforcement on Russia (WSJ’s Ian Talley)

His term expiring, Garcetti pushes hard for job as ambassador to India (LA Times’ James Rainey and Dakota Smith)

The Oppo Book

JOSH DICKSON, senior adviser for public engagement at the White House, is a big ultramarathoner — competitions longer than the standard marathon distance of 26.2 miles.

He even voluntarily did the Western States ultramarathon competition, which spans 100 miles, in 2013.

“In a 100-miler, you hit that point where you want to quit a lot of times,” he told The Post Game in 2014. “People talk about getting a second wind, but you need a seventh and eighth wind to get through these.”

“Most ultras are trails, and you’re talking about rocky, root-filled trails which slow you down. The cumulative effect of that and the heat, it beats you down a bunch,” he added. “At mile 30, you’re feeling pretty good, looking over the mountainside, but by mile 38, you start to get a little groggy. It was over 100 degrees the day of the Western and the heat kicked in and it was tough to handle.”

Not exactly West Wing Playbook’s idea of fun but to each their own!

POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER

Nixon and Cox’s wedding cake was nearly 7-feet tall — standing at 6 feet and 10 inches to be exact, according to former White House executive chef HENRY HALLER. The recipe can be found here if you’re in a baking mood, courtesy of the White House Historical Association.

AND, A CALL OUT — Do you think you have a harder one? Send us your best one about the presidents with a citation and we may feature it.

Edited by Eun Kyung Kim and Sam Stein.