Michael Wolff says White House aides use a coded phrase — "How's the weather?" — to warn colleagues about President Trump’s mood. A Reuters photo of Trump scowling at aide Natalie Harp is cited as an example of the tense atmosphere Wolff describes. He recounts frequent, sharp rebukes of staff and suggests many aides serve largely as the president’s emotional support. Harp’s apologetic letters, published by The Daily Beast, underscore the pressure aides report feeling.
Inside Trump's World: Aides Use Coded Phrase — 'How's the Weather?' — To Gauge His Mood
Photo Illustration by Victoria Sunday/The Daily Beast/Getty Images
President Donald Trump’s tendency toward sudden, public outbursts has prompted his closest aides to adopt a discreet shorthand to warn one another when his mood turns volatile, his biographer Michael Wolff said.
Trump appeared visibly unhappy and seemed to be yelling something as he returned to the White House from the launch of America.gov, the Trump administration’s new AI-powered website. / Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
A Reuters photograph by Jonathan Ernst appears to capture that fraught dynamic. The image shows a scowling Trump just outside the Oval Office, index finger raised beside aide Natalie Harp, who smiles as she stands near the president. Observers on the podcast Inside Trump's Head said the picture illustrates how staffers often navigate tension in plain view of cameras.
Bill Pulte also appeared to be on the receiving end of the president’s anger. / KENT NISHIMURA / Kent Nishimura/AFP via Getty Images
What Wolff Says
Wolff, who has written multiple books about Trump and spent time in the White House during the former president's first term, told host Joanna Coles that aides developed a coded question — "How's the weather?" — as a quick way to ask, "What's his mood?" before approaching Trump.
“You are all that matters to me. I don’t want to ever let you down,” Harp told the president in her letter. / Obtained by The Daily Beast/Howl
"This is a man who is wholly unfiltered. There are no restraints here... If he feels it, if he thinks it, he expresses it, and his powers of expression are... blunt force," Wolff said.
Wolff described repeated, harsh rebukes of staff, recounting a "horrendous" dressing-down of longtime adviser Jason Miller and saying that Natalie Harp and other women around Trump — including Hope Hicks and Margot Martin — often find themselves on the receiving end of his anger.
Context And Response
Wolff suggested these dynamics create a workplace where aides are expected to provide emotional support to the president. Two letters Harp wrote to Trump — published in full by The Daily Beast in August — show her apologizing for perceived missteps; one reads, "If there is anything else I have done to cause you trouble, please forgive me."
The White House did not immediately comment. Trump's communications director, Steven Cheung, previously dismissed Wolff's work, telling The Daily Beast: "Michael Wolff is a lying sack of s--t and has been proven to be a fraud."
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