--- title: How Private Flights Tripped Up President Trump description: The Trump Administration is on the defensive over private travel by Cabinet officials. Neil Gorsuch is acting like a veteran justice. canonical: https://time.com/4962429/how-private-flights-tripped-up-president-trump/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-29T18:59:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:54:28.867Z article:section: Politics og:title: How Private Flights Tripped Up President Trump og:description: The Trump Administration is on the defensive over private travel by Cabinet officials. Neil Gorsuch is acting like a veteran justice. og:url: https://time.com/4962429/how-private-flights-tripped-up-president-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Morning Must Reads og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Private Flights Tripped Up President Trump twitter:description: The Trump Administration is on the defensive over private travel by Cabinet officials. Neil Gorsuch is acting like a veteran justice. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Private Flights Tripped Up President Trump > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=6872d354-5212-43d4-a3f8-4d790f6615ed&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Tom Price Resigns After Private Plane Controversy [Watch (HLS stream): Tom Price Resigns After Private Plane Controversy](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zSj4Ouyi.m3u8) (1:13)  _Published 2017-09-28. President Donald Trump's health secretary has resigned, after his travel on costly flights triggered investigations and angered his boss._ by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Sep 29, 2017 6:59 PM UTC by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Sep 29, 2017 6:59 PM UTC The Trump Administration finds itself increasingly on the defensive over private travel by Cabinet officials. The revelation that Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price took more than a dozen flights on privately chartered jets put his job in jeopardy and his boss into damage control mode. But Price is not the only member of president’s team in hot water, and the Cabinet’s high-flying ways point to a culture of extravagance at the highest levels of the Trump Administration—often racked up on the people’s credit card. Trump is upset with Price and may fire him for the offense, officials said. Neil Gorsuch is acting like a veteran justice. The U.S. responds after diplomats fall ill in Cuba. And the administration’s Puerto Rico message problem. _Here are your must reads:_ **Must Reads** [Beyond the Daily Drama and Twitter Battles, Trump Begins to Alter American Life ](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-trump-effect-rules/beyond-the-daily-drama-and-twitter-battles-trump-begins-to-alter-american-life-idUSKCN1C3261?utm%5Fsource=newsletter&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=newsletter%5Faxiosam&stream=top-stories)The unpublicized impact of his administration \[Reuters\] [Neil Gorsuch Is Already Acting Like He’s Been on the Supreme Court for Years ](http://time.com/4961416/neil-gorsuch-supreme-court-term-controversy/)TIME’s Tessa Berenson on the new Justice before the start of the term [US Cuts Embassy Staff, Urges No Travel to Cuba ](https://apnews.com/3602399b00044443883aa2bdef0f1a84)After diplomats fall ill \[Associated Press\] [Price Took Military Jets to Europe, Asia for Over $500K ](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/28/tom-price-military-jets-europe-asia-hhs-243276)Accompanied by his wife, the HHS secretary journeyed to Geneva, Berlin, Beijing, Tokyo and other cities for events. [Twitter Finds Hundreds of Accounts Tied to Russian Operatives ](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/twitter-finds-hundreds-of-accounts-tied-to-russian-operatives/2017/09/28/6cf26f7e-a484-11e7-ade1-76d061d56efa%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.a84b7be70553)But lawmakers are frustrated with the company’s response \[Washington Post\] [Republican Tax Plan Quickly Hits First Hurdle ](https://www.wsj.com/articles/republican-tax-plan-quickly-hits-first-hurdle-1506638523)GOP lawmakers from high-tax states oppose repealing individual deduction for state and local taxes \[Wall Street Journal\] **Sound Off** “If you can’t treat someone with dignity and respect, then get out.” — Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria, superintendent of the Air Force Academy, in a [speech](http://gazette.com/article/1612138?) on the power of diversity “Dammit, this is not a good news story. This is a people are dying story.” — San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz responding to Acting DHS Secretary Elaine Duke’s characterization of the hurricane response effort **Bits and Bites** [Tom Price Isn’t Actually Paying the Full Cost of Those Private Plane Rides That Had Trump Open to Firing Him](http://time.com/4962424/tom-price-donald-trump-private-jets/) \[TIME\] [Zinke took $12,000 charter flight home in oil executive’s plane, documents show](https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2017/09/28/59533ed8-a4b8-11e7-ade1-76d061d56efa%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.23a2d586cca5) \[Washington Post\] [White House launches probe of private email accounts](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/28/white-house-launches-probe-private-email-accounts-243281) \[Politico\] [Tom Price Apologizes After Using Taxpayer Money for Private Jet Flights](http://time.com/4961890/tom-price-apologizes-charter-plane-private-jet/) \[Associated Press\] [Gary Cohn says a typical American family earns $100,000 a year—here’s how much they really make](https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/28/gary-cohn-says-a-typical-american-family-earns-100000-a-year.html) \[CNBC\] [Deportations slow under Trump despite increase in arrests by ICE](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/deportations-fall-under-trump-despite-increase-in-arrests-by-ice/2017/09/28/1648d4ee-a3ba-11e7-8c37-e1d99ad6aa22%5Fstory.html?stream=top-stories&utm%5Fcampaign=newsletter%5Faxiosam&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fsource=newsletter&utm%5Fterm=.78e3f59b78af) \[Washington Post\] [Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin: GOP Tax Plan Would More Than Offset Its Cost](https://www.wsj.com/articles/treasury-secretary-steven-mnuchin-gop-tax-plan-would-more-than-offset-its-cost-1506626980) \[Wall Street Journal\] ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Firstly, I'm not happy about it. I am not happy about it. Are you gong to fire him? I'm gonna look at it. I'm not happy about it, and I let him know it. 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