Behind The Scenes: Clay Travis Gives Blow-By-Blow Look Back At Air Force One Interview With President Trump

PublishedMarch 28, 2025 1:08 AM EDT•UpdatedMarch 28, 2025 1:08 AM EDT

Clay Picks The Sweet 16 | OutKick The Show w/ Clay Travis

0 seconds of 32 secondsVolume 0%

00:00

00:32

Early last week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt texted me a question: Would I like to travel with President Trump to the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Philadelphia? They had an extra seat on the plane thanks to the new media policy the Trump White House had put in place, and she wanted to give OutKick an opportunity to see what the travel experience was like and write about it.

Opportunity Of A Lifetime: Yes, Please!

I said yes, almost immediately, and then set about trying to figure out all the details. (This is how 99 percent of my life works now. I say yes to something and then try to figure out how to make it work. I should say no more, by the way. It was one of my 2025 resolutions.)

Hopefully many of you have seen or listened to clips from my Air Force One interview with the president by now, but if you didn't, that's posted here.

But this isn't a story about the interview, it's about the behind-the-scenes process of traveling on Air Force One and what the experience is like to spend a weekend in the media traveling with the president.

And I'm writing it old school OutKick style, with numbers, just like I did in my Dixieland Delight travelogue back in 2006. (Thanks to all of you who have been reading what I've written for 20 years now, I know some of you are out there.)

SIGN UP for The Daily OutKick. New Look, Same Attitude.

Me And President Trump, By The Numbers: Getting Started

So here we go with the weekend with President Trump.

1. My schedule is kind of crazy on a daily basis.

That happens when you have 48 jobs, three kids, and a wife.

So to make the weekend work, I wake up early Friday morning and drive to the Nashville airport. I fly to Washington, D.C., land at National airport and head to our iHeart radio studios to do my Clay and Buck radio show from 12-3 Eastern.

The show airs on 555 stations nationwide in all 50 states and we talk to millions of people every day on those 555 radio stations. (And if you aren't listening, what in the world are you doing with your life?)

2. I try and pack as much in my day as possible, so I'm planning on doing the radio show from 12-3 ET and then rushing outside to do Martha MacCallum's Fox News show from a remote van just after 3 ET.

Then my plan is to hop in a car and be at Andrews Air Force Base by the 3:40 media shuttle for Air Force One. (Take off is scheduled for 5 p.m., ET. The President will be flying in via a Marine One helicopter from the South Lawn, which takes about 10 minutes.)

Micah at the White House -- I'm not going to use last names here unless they have entirely public facing jobs -- texts to make sure I realize that it can take anywhere from 20 minutes to over an hour depending on traffic to get to Andrews Air Force Base from the White House.

Uh oh.

I can't miss Air Force One.

So I change my schedule -- the Fox News van will meet me in the Andrews Air Force visitor parking lot for the TV hit and I'll leave a half hour early. (My assistant Katey has been with us now for ten years. Initially she helped mostly with the kids. Now she spends most of her time on me because I'm more of a handful than the kids are. She's phenomenal and handles a great deal of my schedule.)

We get off to a bad start because the driver who was supposed to pick me up went to 17th Street instead of 7th Street.

So he shows up 15 minutes late.

The next half-hour will be spent determining who screwed up: me, Katey, the Fox News producer, or the driver. (I'm almost always the one who screws up, by the way, so I assume somehow I screwed up the address while I'm waiting outside in the street.)

Turns out it was the driver or his company.

But regardless, when I get in the car, I tell him we're behind on the TV hit and need to get moving.

Sometimes drivers are amazing at making up time.

Others are atrocious.

This guy is the latter.

I think we got passed by more cars than we passed for the next 35 minutes in the car.

3. Live TV is a mess and I don't envy live TV producers.

They have to deal with breaking news, guests who are late, tech issues, everything that can go wrong does go wrong on live TV. I've been on TV when I can't hear them, but they can hear me, when they can't hear me at all, when all of the graphics are wrong, when the mic works but the TV shot doesn't -- and that was just one Fox Bet Live show. For better or worse, I'm pretty calm with all of this while I'm live on the air because radio is similar. If you do live media, everything will go wrong at some point. The truth is, most people watching or listening don't notice unless you draw attention to it.

Now you can bring up screw-ups later -- and sometimes the screw-ups can be good entertainment -- some of you will remember that I've done live radio shows at 5 AM from the parking lot before because the guy who was supposed to open the radio station wasn't there -- Shout out DJ KDub back in OutKick the Coverage days -- but in general, live TV producers are always frazzled and in a panic.

Like now, when I'm not going to make it to the van in time for the live TV hit.

Except, amazingly, there's a press conference that is scheduled, and it will take the first 15 minutes of the show.

Meaning I'm going to be there fine!

Here's what aired at 3:15 ET on Fox News, it looked flawless, like everything went perfectly to script.

But you all know now, it was a frenzy behind the scenes.

By the way, Tommy Vietor, the guy I'm debating here, is wrong about everything he argues, but he seems like a good guy. The next time I'm in Los Angeles we're going to go grab beers.

Also, Martha MacCallum is really, really, good at TV. Everyone hosting on Fox News is good, but Martha is exceptional. It's a really hard job that skilled TV hosts make look extremely easy. But, trust me, it isn't.

Also, and this drives me crazy whenever I watch myself on TV, my hair puffs out on the left side and not the right side if I don't wet it down beforehand. It makes no sense. I may be the only person who notices it, but it drives me crazy. And I was in a rush here so it's puffy.

Sidenote: Fox News has vans all over the country that are incredible.

Truly.

Sometimes they will ask me to be on with short notice and I can legit walk out of a restaurant, do a hit, and come back ten minutes later. I've done this in Nashville, Miami, Los Angeles, New York City, Atlanta, Knoxville, and Washington, D.C. And the shots are so good and so reliable no one even has an idea. This hit was in a parking lot in Washington, D.C. And it looks and sounds the exact same as if I were in my home studio.

It's phenomenal how well this works.

Finally Made It!

4. I finish the TV hit and go looking, bags in hand, for the location of the media shuttle.

I wait in line at the Andrews Air Force Visitor Center and am eventually told the shuttle meets behind the visitor center.

Three media people are standing in the sunshine -- it's a cool day, but feels good in the sun -- and a group of cars are also lined up for media who have brought their own vehicles.

This, it turns out, is the White House traveling press corps.

There are 13 of us total, I'm in the new media seat, so 12 plus me.

I presumed that everyone would hate me, but I quickly learned that I was wrong. They're all super nice to me all weekend long.

Air Force One In The Flesh: A Moment To Never Forget

10. And I have to tell you, walking up on Air Force One is pretty badass.

There are two stairs rolled up to the plane, one in the front, which the president will use and which you've probably seen on television a million times, and one in the back, which you have probably never seen before.

We are allowed to board the plane from the rear stairs. Air Force service members check our passes on a passenger list they have, confirming that we are on the boarding list.

Everyone working on Air Force One, the military staff and the flight attendants, have Air Force One apparel on, which I would imagine is the flight attendant equivalent of being a first round draft pick.

Everyone in the media knows what to do once we board, but I don't know which seat is mine so I stand around awkwardly in the aisle trying not to get run over. I'm eventually told my seat is in the last row of the plane, the window seat, next to two photographers who each have two massive cameras that they hang on the backs of the seats in front of us.

My seat has no leg room because there are bottles of water stored underneath it. All the overhead bin space is taken and I didn't ask anything about checking a bag because I haven't checked a bag since 1994.

As a result, my bag is piled on top of the water bottles.

Each seat has a video monitor on it and Fox News's "The Five" is playing on each screen in the plane.

We have all received meals in white Air Force One labeled paper lunch bags.The menu is also placed above the windows -- my first Air Force One meal is lobster ravioli. It's described thusly on the menu: "Lobster ravioli: baked ravioli stuffed with mascarpone cheese and lobster filling. Paired with a lemon butter sauce topped with lobster clusters, parmesan cheese and fresh parsley. Serviced with garlic bread."

We also get a Ceasar salad, a lemon cake and sparkling water.

Honestly, it's pretty great.

But I'm nervous about whether I might be about to interview the president and I don't want to try to start eating yet.

11. There are three main compartments to the Air Force One 757. At least based on what I can see from the last row in the plane. The steerage, where the press, like me, are sitting, the middle compartment which is secret service and staffers, and the first section, which features a conference table and large captain's chairs spaced decently apart to allow more comfort for the President's staff and VIP travelers.

(Later I will learn there's a fourth compartment closer to the front, that features a full office for the President, with a TV screen in front of and behind him.)

12. We leave our bags and go back down the stairs to wait for the President to land outside on the tarmac.

Several media members tell me this plane does not have working WIFI -- at least for the press -- as we wait.

This is an NCAA tournament calamity for me.

No WIFI?!

So I spend most of the time on the tarmac waiting for the President to land hitting refresh on my phone to get the latest scores.

The media lines up their cameras -- video and still photography -- under the wing of Air Force One and waits for the president to land on the airstrip.

The president has a choice to make on every flight: He can stop and talk to the waiting media or he can board and not speak to the media.

No one knows what he will choose, so they have to prepare as if he's going to speak to them.

13. The helicopters appear on the horizon.

A Secret Service agent is standing next to me.

I ask her which helicopter the President is in.

"I can't tell you," she says.

14. The president has just spoken to the media on the South Lawn and the media waiting at the plane are trying to get the information based on what he said so they can be prepared to ask follow-up questions.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to figure out if Vanderbilt is going to hold on to its lead against St. Mary's or not.

I ask one of the White House staffers about the recent viral incident when a boom mic -- the fluffy-looking object that looks like a duster but works as a mic -- hit the President in the face.

I'm told the person who did it was a young woman working in radio and she spent most of the flight crying over her error. Honestly, someone with a job like holding the mic in front of the official to pick up their audio is like an official in a game, if you notice them, they screwed up.

I don't know any of the rules, so my goal is to be unnoticed by anyone in an authority position and not violate some protocol of which I'm unaware.

15. Many of the media working on the trip have lots of gear to carry. Both the men and the women. They lug the gear on and off the plane, set it up and hope the President will stop and say something to them.

Otherwise, they have to load all the gear back up and take it back inside the plane.

Later I will learn the media rotate through who goes on trips like this one. Most of them have no idea where the trip will be. It could be an international trip, or it could be Mar-a-Lago. They just are next up for the trip.

These are not people making huge salaries opining on the issues of the day from fancy studios, they are the grunt workers, by and large, of the media.

All of these White House media are on call until the White House lets them know there's a "lid" on the day, meaning the president will have no further activities for the day.

16. I get pictures taken of me in front of Air Force One.

Security is not happy.

Turns out I've already done something wrong and drawn attention to myself -- photos are only supposed to show the plane from the wing forward.

Whoops.

Hello, Mr. President

17. The helicopters land.

Secret Service disembark and take different positions around the airplane and across the tarmac. The helicopters are LOUD and the wind is blowing like crazy. The rotors stop, the door opens, two soldiers stand on either side of the exit, and Trump walks down, wearing a long black coat, a blue tie, salutes, and walks roughly 75 yards to the waiting airplane stairs.

He salutes the two soldiers standing at the foot of the stairs, walks up the stairs, lightly tapping the railing as he climbs, and then turns, pumps a fist and enters the plane.

He doesn't stop to speak to the media.

After he enters the plane, the rest of the passengers disembark. I recognize Elon Musk, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and press secretary Karoline Leavitt. They all climb the front stairs after the President has entered the plane -- they wait until he's inside to climb the stairs -- and we all rush to the back stairs to be ready for the plane to leave.

18. A thought -- it's incredibly strange and abnormal to have people watch you all day long and report on every minute detail in your life.

Film you, photograph you, everything you do in public all day long.

President Trump is probably the most famous person in the world. His every step is chronicled, it's a strange way to live -- he is the star of the Trump Show and it's always running.

He loves it, even the pause and the pumped fist before going inside, Trump has a sense for the theatrical, the show must go on no matter what. He understands better than probably any President in history that there's a ravenous demand for more content, always more, no matter what you do, there's an insatiable demand.

It's not just Trump either. Trump has an incredible ability to transfer his star power.

Earlier this year, I argued there were basically two media outlets that could still make stars out of unknowns -- Fox News and Netflix. But standing on the tarmac watching Trump climb the stairs, I realize I'm wrong, there's a third: Trump himself has the ability to mint stars overnight.

Trump, standing alone, is the third most powerful media outlet in the country.

And, of course, what he does is exhausting. He should, by all accounts, be, at 78 years old, tired all the time.

But it feels like, improbably, he's continuing to accelerate into the media cycle, bend it entirely to his will, shatter all the legacy media in his wake, casting them aside, broken and battered, as he manages, incredibly, to emerge without a scratch.

Think of what the presidency did to Barack Obama or George W. Bush, much younger men when they entered office. Think about how much older they looked when they left office.

Trump came down the escalator at Trump Tower 10 years ago now.

Does he look any different at all?

Not really.

It's really pretty remarkable, unlike any president we've seen before.

19. Back in the steerage section, where the press are, my feet are up near my chest, balanced precariously on bottles of water under my seat, a duffle bag and a laptop bag.

There are no announcements about us needing to put on our seatbelts or be seated.

I'm trying to get NCAA tourney scores, but without any prelude, no more than five minutes after the President boards, we are suddenly hurtling down the runway.

Many people are still standing as we rush down the runway.

All those years of zealous flight attendant monitoring on commercial flights and there wasn't a single announcement prior to take off on this flight.

On Our Way And Flying High!

20. The seatback monitors on the plane have presidential seals spinning, which is pretty badass.

Most people are eating their meals now, but I'm not eating mine because I'm not sure if we are doing the interview on this flight or the next one.

Instead, I'm trying to figure out if Air Force One has tournament games or not.

21. As soon as we reach cruising altitude Karoline Leavitt comes back to get me and brings me up to the middle of the plane.

She had told me I'd get to interview the President -- audio only -- on Air Force One, but I don't know if it's this flight or tomorrow.

I visit with her and Sean Duffy, Transportation Secretary, who is also on the flight.

She tells me we'll do the interview tomorrow.

22. Back in my seat, I try to find basketball games on the monitor.

Eventually, I find one game, for a moment I exult, thinking I'll be able to follow all the games and scores easily. But it's women's basketball, they get ESPN, but that's it.

No CBS, Tru TV, TBS or TNT.

I'm not sure who I would ask about that, but given that I've already broken photography rules, I don't want to draw any more attention to myself.

23. We land in Morristown, New Jersey.

The moment we land, people start standing up, the media has to rush outside to prepare to ask questions, the Secret Service has to protect the President.

No one else is on the runway in New Jersey.

This is the closest airport to Bedminster, New Jersey, where the President has his golf course. (I played the LIV golf event there two years ago and we interviewed the president for Clay and Buck there on one of the houses on the property).

The flight attendants come by and pass out special treats, M&M's with Trump's signature in a special Air Force One box.

I snag two, along with my uneaten meal.

24. We all stand outside under the wing, but President Trump doesn't stop to talk, he walks to a helicopter, boards, and it will take him directly to his home in Bedminster.

The press loads up in three vans -- I'm checking tourney scores thanks to having a signal again -- and we are driven to the Bridgewater, New Jersey Marriott, the same hotel we stayed at when I played the LIV golf tourney a couple of years ago.

While in the van, a lid is announced, the president will have no public events until tomorrow afternoon, when we travel to Philadelphia for the wrestling tournament.

The hotel is almost completely full of little league teams playing a nearby tournament. There are kids yelling and screaming everywhere.

We all line up and get our rooms. (I give them my credit card so, inevitably, I'll end up getting charged for this entire trip instead of OutKick, just wait. Somehow, I get charged for every work hotel I ever stay in. It's uncanny.)

Upstairs in my room I put on Troy vs. Kentucky and eat my Air Force One meal, straight from the Air Force One bag, while I watch the game.

The lobster ravioli is fantastic, the entire meal is phenomenal, honestly.

25. I'm not yet done for the night as I have a hit for the Sean Hannity Show, again via remote van, which will be parked in the parking lot in the hotel.

(Sidenote: The Fox News vans have no windows and are large white or black vehicles. You knock on the sliding door, a tech opens it, and you sit down and do the TV hit. It looks shady as hell if you're just in the area. My home camera wasn't working a couple of years ago, so the vans were coming and parking outside my house. I'd walk out in a dress shirt, a jacket, shorts, and tennis shoes, my usual TV outfit since you're only seen from the chest up, and knock on the side of a van, climb inside for 10 minutes, and then leave. No telling what people think when they see this happen. It looks like an illicit drug or sex deal is under way.)

Here's that TV hit, which, again, you'd have no idea I was in a van outside a hotel in New Jersey.

I head back inside the hotel and watch more of the NCAA Tourney until the games end and I go to bed.

Day Two With President Trump

26. The next morning, I wake up and work on the new book I'm writing. It's called "Balls," and is about how Trump won the 2024 election by having balls.

It's going to have the greatest cover in the history of books.

We don't have any media meetings until 2:30, when we are scheduled in the lobby to get security clearance for our flight to Philadelphia. But Ed Walsh, Trump's nominated ambassador to Ireland, texts me to come over to Bedminster and have lunch, so I head over and eat lunch there.

27. I take an Uber because I don't have a car, but Ed says he's put me on the list for the guard shack.

When I get dropped off by my Uber driver, the guard shack is filled with Fox News viewers, all of whom know me, and we stand around for 10 minutes talking about the NCAA Tournament until security comes to get me.

(There is security everywhere at Bedminster. Supposedly it has skyrocketed since the assassination attempts and eventually I arrive at the clubhouse, where a brand new red, white and blue Trump golf mobile is parked outside, a gift from the Bedminster staff for Trump. It's emblazoned on the seat backs with 45 and 47 and the back of the golf cart has Trump Vance bumper stickers. The front is emblazoned with Trump's image covered in red, white and blue. It seats four, but Trump is not golfing today, instead he's driving the Bedminster golf course surveying it as the spring and summer season gets closer.)

What President Trump Is Really Like

President Trump is by the clubhouse when I arrive and we visit a bit -- he's wearing his new MAGA blue hat and when I compliment it, he tries to take it off and give it to me. I refuse to take it, so he grabs a "Trump Was RIght About Everything" red hat from behind the golf pro shop counter, signs it, and hands it to me.

One thing that most don't get about Trump, he's a genuinely nice guy. I've interviewed him now 10 times -- later today will be the 11th -- and he's met my three kids and my wife multiple times now too and every time they meet him the number one thing they all talk about is how nice he is.

Clearly I'm not around Trump all the time, so I'm sure like anyone in a high-pressure, high-stress job he sometimes loses his temper and takes it out on those around him, but I've never seen it happen.

And I've seen him in front of big crowds, small crowds, been one of only two or three people in a room with him, and, again, I've just never seen it happen.

The Trump I see is a grandfatherly figure who reminds me, most often, of the dads of kids I grew up with. This makes sense, I suppose, since the Trump kids and I are all around the same age and Trump probably still thinks of people like me as young in the way a grandfather will always think of his kids as young, even as they become adults too. In fact, when we finished an interview with him in November of 2023 at Mar-a-Lago Trump wouldn't let us leave until the kitchen had prepared the four of us -- Buck and his wife Carrie and my wife Lara were also there -- milkshakes for our drive back to Miami.

The first time we interviewed him at Mar-a-Lago back in 2022 he insisted that we eat the hamburgers there because he said Mar-a-Lago made the best hamburgers in the world. Which is exactly what you would expect Trump to say about the hamburgers at Mar-a-Lago.

And when I last interviewed Trump at Bedminster, back in the summer of 2022, his grandkids came in during a commercial break and Trump wanted to golf with his granddaughter Kai and spent the entire commercial break quizzing her about her golf game, sounding for all the world much less like the most powerful man on the planet and much more like a grandpa trying to get his grandkids to spend as much time with him as possible.

The Trump as Hitler attacks have always fallen super flat for me because I can't imagine Hitler insisting on milkshakes and hamburgers for his guests or trying to get his granddaughter to ride around and play golf with him.

And I think, honestly, that's what Democrats have found out at long last.

They've spent ten years trying to bankrupt, imprison, and kill him and yet the American public, by and large, has come to like Trump more and more. He keeps setting new highs in approval and when that happens, I think you get the best version of Trump because he gives off the energy he receives, only more so, because he has more energy than most. If you praise him, he praises you back tenfold, if you attack him, he attacks you back tenfold.

The fact that most Democrats and legacy media still haven't figured this out is wild to me.

Frankly, I love the guy and I think he's trying to do the best job he can in the world's most difficult job.

And ever since he responded like he did in Butler, Pennsylvania to the assassination attempt? I feel about Trump like I do an athlete who is nearing the end of his career, but we know is already a Hall of Famer. Does he have one more title in him or not? And I think Trump does. He's like Tom Brady leaving the Patriots and going to the Bucs, the period in his career where a lot of the hate begins to fade with reasonable people and you just tell yourself to enjoy the ride because there's not going to be anyone else like him, and you don't know how much more time you have to appreciate him.

Hell, I said on the radio, and mark my words, this is coming, that by 2027 Democrats are going to be saying that Trump is so uniquely talented as a politician that Republican success during his tenure isn't about Republicans at all, that it's entirely Trump.

Some of you are going to read that prior sentence and think I'm crazy, but I'm telling you it's coming.

Save it.

We're headed in the next year and a half from he's Adolf Hilter to he's the most successful Republican president since Ronald Reagan and Republicans are never going to be able to replicate his turnout and support.

And like Reagan, at least in public, Trump is always aware that the role of president is not just policy, it's performance art.

28. At lunch, the guy in charge of Trump's concrete, Trump described him as "better at concrete than golfing" when we met at Mar-a-Lago, talks about the day after the Butler, PA assassination attempt.

He says Trump was out on the Bedminster golf range, hitting golf balls, big bandage on his ear.

The concrete guy says he's getting choked up talking to Trump and Trump says he's fine and immediately asks how the concrete business is going.

The concrete guy says, "You know, Bidenomics," and Trump immediately turns to his assistant and says, "Figure out where we need some concrete and put him on it."

This is the Trump you don't hear about much.

But spend much time around Trump and almost everyone has a story just like this.

29. Lunch runs long, and now I'm afraid I'm going to potentially be late for the media check-in at the hotel.

So the Bedminster golf valet puts me in the Trump red, white and blue golf cart. (REMEMBER THE GOLF CART IS NOT PAID FOR BY TAXPAYERS!) And rushes me back to the main check in stand.

I hop another Uber there, gather my bags back at the hotel and all the media drives back to Bedminster in the vans where we go through security all over again. The same security I just went through a couple of hours ago.

One of Trump's long-time New York drivers is there going through security, and he's a fan of OutKick. Born in Chicago, he wants to talk about the Bears, the NFL Draft, and the 1990's era Chicago Bulls. Oh, and Trump. He says he was also at Bedminster the day after the assassination attempt. He found me on YouTube during Covid and has been watching our OutKick videos since.

"That day I just stood and watched him hitting golf balls, and I was thinking, 'He's just built different.'"

(Later that day on Air Force One I ask Trump about hitting golf balls outdoors at Bedminster the day after he came within a quarter inch of being assassinated. He shrugs. "What else was I going to do?" he asks?)

Waiting, And Waiting Some More

30. It turns out, being in the traveling press corps with the president means you spend a lot of time hurrying up to wait.

For the next several hours we are in the vans waiting.

Most of the media in my van go to sleep as we drive to the airport. I'm trying to watch NCAA Tourney games in the back of the van, but as we are still on the tarmac at the Morristown Airport waiting on Trump to fly back over on the helicopters, it occurs to me that I'm going to have to ration my time on the phone -- BUT ARKANSAS AND ST. JOHN'S ARE IN A CLASSIC GAME -- because I have to record my Trump interview and in addition to being a tech moron, I am now afraid that my phone might die during the interview or before I can send the audio back to the OutKick editors.

So I'm like a junkie. I keep looking at my phone, but I can't touch it because the charge might run out.

31 I find a charger in one of the vans and plug it in.

It doesn't work.

32. I'm not sure what the Secret Service rule on bathrooms is, but I'm dying here.

I don't remember the last time I had to ask for permission to go to the bathroom -- elementary school? -- but just before I'm about to ask, one of the White House staffers offers a bathroom break. The vans disembark, and we all get to go to the bathroom.

Inside I meet Senator Dave McCormick and his wife Dina. The last time I saw them was at the Ohio State-Penn State football game, a couple of days before the election. We've been in contact since then, but this is the first time I've seen them in person.

Pennsylvania made a good choice here, but it was super close. McCormick won by only 15,000 votes and his opponent tried to keep counting votes for a week after the election.

The reason the president is going to the NCAA Wrestling tournament is because Senator McCormick and Congressman Jim Jordan, both former college wrestlers, have encouraged him to make the trip.

We talk about what to expect at the wrestling tournament.

33. Back in the vans, I can't resist checking games, even though my phone charge is declining rapidly.

Arkansas wins, what a victory for John Calipari over Rick Pitino.

Finally, we get word the President is a half-hour out, and we're allowed to board Air Force One. I plug in my phone, but it's a finicky charger.

I wolf down a meal -- arugula steak salad -- "grilled steak served over arugula cucumbers, tomatoes, and gorgonzola cheese. Accompanied with Balsamic Vinagrette dressing and a warm dinner roll with a chocolate brownie" per the printed description posted on the airplane wall -- very good, but not as good as the lobster ravioli. I finish my meal standing by the back crew deck on Air Force One, while eying the charger to make sure my phone is charging.

We get word the president is 10 minutes out and all the media head back down to stand under the wing and watch him arrive on the helicopters.

Once again Trump walks up the stairs, this time in a red tie, pumps his first, and we all rush back inside.

We take off immediately and as soon as we reach cruising altitude Karoline Leavitt comes back to get me and walk me up for the interview.

It's Showtime!

34. The flight from Morristown, New Jersey to Philadelphia is no more than a half-hour.

So I know we don't have that long for the interview.

Trump is sitting at a desk in the front compartment of the airplane, full suit, red tie, presidential seal on the wall behind him, two flat-screen televisions, one behind him, the other directly in front of him, watching Fox News on one and a UFC fight on the other. The interview, to be recorded on my phone -- hopefully -- requires the televisions to be turned down, but Trump isn't sure how to do that, so the staffers have to figure that out for him.

It turns out I'm in good company when it comes to TV tech being way too complicated.

Trump's drinking a Bloody Mary without alcohol out of a whiskey glass, a celery stick extended from the end of the glass.

We start talking and the phone rings. Trump pauses to answer it. (Trump always has his phone on him and answers it much of the time when it rings.) A week before, a man on Florida's Gulf Coast named Marvin Peavy won a dispute with Walton County, Florida over his right to display huge pro-Trump banners on his house. I met with Peavy this past fall to celebrate Trump's win. Peavy's been displaying these pro-Trump banners -- they are truly massive -- since 2020, running up tens of thousands of dollars in fines, which he's refused to pay. When he won his dispute with local authorities, one of Trump's top assistants asked me for Peavy's contact. I gave it to her. Two days later, Trump called Marvin to thank him for his support.

Very, very few of these stories go public, but they happen all the time because I personally hear about them quite a lot.

Trump is uniquely skilled at things like this, reaching out and giving of his time to his supporters, to people who he may never meet in person.

When Trump takes the call, I stop the taping and then I'm terrified that I'll screw it up on the restart.

I'm watching the clock on the phone to ensure it's recording because can you imagine interviewing the President of the United States on Air Force One and then having the TAPE NOT WORK and even the thought of it now is making me uncomfortable.

So I'm going to blame this for why, when I went back and listened to the interview, I didn't follow up with Trump about the Abraham Accords -- who is soon to join, it has to be Saudi Arabia, right? -- and who does Trump think Lee Harvey Oswald might have had help from and why didn't I give Trump a chance to tee off on Megan Rapinoe for calling him "cruel and depraved" for trying to stop men from playing women's sports?

But that's in retrospect, I could have, as we always could have no matter what we do for a living, done a better job, but when the interview was over and, mercifully, it was saved and sent on to OutKick editors to distribute, it was time to join the motorcade and head to the NCAA Wrestling Tournament in Philadelphia.

Moving On To Wrestling…In The Motorcade

35. Driving in a presidential motorcade, it turns out, is badass.

There's zero traffic around you, all the roads are blocked, it takes no time at all to get anywhere.

I highly recommend it.

I'm whisked inside the arena where there is a special seating section adjacent to the wrestling mats to watch the tournament. I'm one of the first to arrive, shortly thereafter Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Elon Musk are there.

Here is Elon Musk arriving.

I've met Elon twice now, once at Mar-a-Lago and now on Air Force One. I have introduced myself to him both times, but even though he talked with me about colonizing Mars and has shared some of my Tweets, I have no idea if he has any idea who I am.

I don't know Susie Wiles very well, but I loved her dad, legendary NFL announcer Pat Summerall, so I talk with her about how much I enjoyed the games he and John Madden called.

Then Karoline Leavitt, the congressmen and the senators arrive.

I know Congressman Jim Jordan well and I love him. I testified at his invitation about government censorship back in March of 2021 on Capitol HIll. Jordan's sons are there too and they are all wild sports fans so we have a good time visiting.

And, for a moment, a word on Karoline Leavitt. She's 28 years old, recently married, and has an 8-month-old baby. I think, if anything, her story is way undertold. She's the youngest person to ever have her job. She ran for Congress in New Hampshire at 26, she's a college athlete, she's an absolute rockstar. Add all that together and she's become super famous overnight. I don't think most people realize how much any one of these things would be to handle at once.

Imagine having your first baby and then becoming White House press secretary in six months.

It's crazy.

If she were a Democrat, no one would have gotten better press than her. She'd be on the cover of every magazine on the planet, a media superstar the likes of which you've never seen. But she works for Trump, so the media hasn't been that kind to her.

Go figure.

Anyway, she's killing it. And the new media seat is why you're reading this right now.

36. We don't know exactly when Trump will be announced, just that it's coming soon.

And we don't know how the crowd will react when he is announced.

And we also don't know how the wrestlers will react when they win, and he's there watching.

And we're also, it's worth mentioning, seated on the floor of a packed arena just a few months after Trump came within a quarter of an inch of being killed.

Sports Fans Love Trump!

Yet when they announce Trump, he walks out, shakes the hand of a family in the stands, waves as the full arena crowd comes to their feet and begins to chant USA, USA, USA.

This is my view of Trump's entrance.

I didn't watch this video until after it was posted, but, full disclosure, this could have been a real disaster for me if I had started to bald. Because the shot is straight behind my head. I saw an interview of Rams coach Sean McVay and he said he had no idea he was balding until there was an overhead shot from behind him on draft day and he wanted to kill everyone around him for not telling him he was balding.

And this past summer my wife told me I needed to start wearing hats to the beach so, buddy, I have got my head on a DAMN SWIVEL about balding and I can tell you, I feel much better after this shot.

I'm good for another few years.

37. Evidently, Fox News also carried this introductory moment live. Good for them. I think they may have a future in this whole news business, but I'll be damned if this random guy doesn't come walking right in and block the shot and somehow the green light is on my face too!

All time moment here, the President, the crowd going wild, and I get a big dude walking in front of me and a green face?

Feels really unfair.

Watch it.

Now, as you all know, I try not to make everything about me. Just not my style. I mean, sure, I've written 8k words, so far, about this past weekend on a website I founded after also talking about it on a radio show with my name on it and did I mention I'm writing a book -- and that I have a coffee company -- Crockettcoffee.com -- if you're feeling a bit tired, so you all know I hate to make it about me, BUT THE PRESIDENT KNEW WHERE HE WAS GOING, he knew where his seat was. I think that big guy wanted the limelight.

Totally unnecessary move on his part.

Anyway, the wrestling was incredible.

And it really feels like American sports are healing. Every single wrestler who won a title came and posed with the President and they were all great, and he was great with them, and the crowd was all great too. It felt, honestly, like the best thing about sports. Every sports fan trusts other sports fans more than they do non-sports fans. Yes, this is true for me, even with Alabama fans.

Sports fans can find each other and before long we're just hanging out, talking about past games, past athletes, we all speak the same language and our race, our politics, our religion, it all fades away, to the experience of being in the arena, of being in the stadium, the communal spirit of competition carries over us and sweeps away our differences.

Sitting next to me, Karoline Levitt pulls up her phone, posts the picture above of Trump posing in grappling style with one of the wrestlers and writes a message, deletes it, stares at the picture. Eventually she writes: "Coolest. President. Ever."

She shows me the caption.

"Good? Should I just leave it blank?"

"No," I say, "that's perfect. And the comments will be great."

And they were.

As they always are when the Internet reacts to Trump.

Don't underrate this. By the way, one reason Trump dominates social media is because young men in particular, including all these wrestlers, innately understand something that lots of grumps in the media don't -- TRUMP IS FUN.

He has a good time, enjoys people.

And that translates well on social media, you can't fake it.

More than anything else, Trump is authentically Trump. And what works better on social media than anything? Authenticity. It's the coin of the Internet realm.

38. Trump is scheduled to leave at nine.

The beast, his protected vehicle, is parked just off the arena floor and the wrestlers, all fresh off their matches, are walking around the vehicle, taking pictures, marveling at the vehicle, the fact the President is there at their matches, bringing more attention to the NCAA wrestling championships than they've ever received in their lifetimes.

But nine passes and the President won't leave the arena.

9:30.

They always want the President to leave before the sporting event is over because it's safer, easier to depart, the crowd is less chaotic.

10.

Trump is different this term in office, more relaxed, feeding off the energy of sports fans like never before. Athletes love him, he loves them, this is always how it was, the symbiosis, Trump watching Tyson, Trump at Wrestlemania, Trump enjoying every moment, the sports fan who doesn't want to leave because if he does, what might happen that he will have missed?

10:15

Trump is literally the man in the arena, living a life he came within a quarter of an inch of losing.

10:20

And then, magic.

Made For TV Moment With Trump And Wrestling Hero

One of the biggest upsets in NCAA wrestling history. And not just that, a former Air Force athlete, now wrestling for Oklahoma State, winning and then draping himself in the American flag, saluting his President, the roof feeling like it's going to come off the arena, as Trump stands watching, nearly one hour and a half after his scheduled departure.

Uncanny timing, yet again.

Trump piles into the beast now, the motorcade storms through the streets of Philadelphia, back to the airport.

A late night, bleary eyes, Trump still on Cloud Nine, energized by the reception in the arena, a 78-year-old man with the energy level of the young college wrestlers he just met.

39. Another meal, Chinese noodles of some sort. I'm busy frantically hitting refresh on the Tennessee-UCLA game. I have been since the game tipped just before 10.

I know once we get on the plane that I won't have service for the 25-minute flight back to Washington, D.C.

I'm way too old to care so much about a game featuring college kids.

Back To Reality…

40. I have to pee again, bad, I duck in one of the bathrooms, have a sudden concern that we might take off while I'm standing and trying to pee, rush as fast as I can.

I wonder: has anyone ever hit their head, gotten knocked out in the press corps over the plane taking off too fast while they were still standing in the bathroom?

Back in my seat, mercifully still alive, I ask the guys sitting next to me.

No, I'm told, but the bathroom I was in, the way it's set up, like 13 media have lost their phones down the toilet. The bathroom counter slopes, the plane takes off, it's claimed a lot of phones. And sometimes media have awful timing too.

It turns out that sometimes the President will come back to the media area of the plane and take questions.

But occasionally a media member gets trapped in the bathroom, Secret Service blocks them while the President answers questions. All day you're hoping for the President to make news and then you end up locked in the bathroom while he answers questions.

41. A word on the media on the plane -- they were all very kind to me.

I can't speak to all the media, but the 12 I was with were kind and helpful.

These are not pretty boy media jobs. They're grinds. Carry all your gear, load it up and bang your way on and off planes, on and off buses and vans, hurry up and wait for hours, you probably don't make much money, try to avoid hitting the President in the head with the boom mic, you're mostly going to be ignored, but still, it's a job that matters a great deal, providing an historic record of sorts. Their job is to provide a lasting record of everything and you never know when moments that echo throughout history will happen.

I was happy to join them for a weekend and I hope you've enjoyed this description of what a weekend with the President is like.

As we glide in for the landing at Andrews Air Force Base, I'm hitting refresh on the score app as hard as I can for the latest update on the Tennessee-UCLA game.

The Vols were up 7 when we took off.

I'm way too old to care this much about what college kids are doing in a game.

But at this point, I'm not going to change.

No signal.

I'm praying quietly, hoping for a double-digit lead.

Boom!

16-point lead for the good guys!

Sweet 16, baby!

42. My phone is also popping with all the alerts from the Trump interview I did a few hours ago.

By Monday, the following outlets will have written about the interview: The New York Times, The Washingon Post, USA Today, Yahoo Sports, Reuters, Sports Illustrated, CNN, Fox News, The Hill, Mediaite, Daily Mail, The Mirror, The US Sun, Axios, Daily Beast, the New York Post and many others too.

We all stand, dutifully, outside as the President boards Marine One and heads back to the White House, not answering questions again.

It's cold, but one of the media members says we don't leave until the wheels leave the ground on the president's helicopter.

We wait.

It's nearly midnight in Washington, D.C.

The President's helicopter takes off and the four of us who rode the media bus on Friday clamber back on for late Saturday night. None of us have cars, we all have Ubers to hail to the entrance gate at Andrews Air Force Base, one more trip to where we'll sleep.

The other three have Ubers and leave.

It's eerily quiet, and I'm alone at the visitor's entrance of Andrews Air Force Base.

I'm watching my Uber driver inch closer and closer to me, slow as slow can go, shivering, as I scroll through the box score of the Tennessee-UCLA basketball game.

From Rags To Riches: Who Could Have Seen This Coming?

Tomorrow morning I'll be up early for a flight back to Nashville -- not many people have gone, I'd wager, straight from Air Force One to Southwest Airlines -- but for now it's after midnight, and I'm texting my kids about the NCAA tournament games that have just finished.

And while I stand there, I find myself thinking about when I founded OutKick in 2011 in a Birmingham, Alabama hotel room and how the site crashed on that first day. And I think about how many people told me I was crazy when I said President Trump would be on my OutKick the Coverage morning radio show. And then I find myself thinking about my paternal grandfather, Clay Travis, who I was named after. My grandfather was born dirt poor in Muhlenberg, County Kentucky. He had an 8th grade education and labored in the Kentucky coal mines before moving to the Nashville area and working the rest of his life in a Dupont factory in Old HIckory, Tennessee. Born in 1905, he died in 1990. In his entire life, my grandfather never took an airplane flight.

Not one.

And his grandson just interviewed the President of the United States on Air Force One.

What a country.

What a time to be alive.

Thank all of you for coming along on the ride with me.

I'm eternally grateful.