President Donald Trump is making a highly unusual visit to Camp David on Wednesday, where he will huddle with his Cabinet as high-stakes Iran peace talks hang by a thread. In a major show of administrative unity, every single member of the Cabinet—including outgoing Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard—is expected to join Trump at the historic presidential retreat tucked away in rural Maryland.
The ultra-secure, 125-acre compound is buried inside Catoctin Mountain Park and fiercely guarded by US Marines. The fortress-like setting provides the perfect blackout zone for delicate, high-level conversations to be held completely free from unwanted guests or members of the media.
A White House official tells the Daily Mail that the Cabinet will discuss foreign policy updates, along with other topics such as the economy, small-business wins and updates from the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud. The shadow of war is set to completely hijack the summit after the US launched blistering airstrikes on targets in southern Iran late Monday.
The military action triggered immediate fury from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who issued a chilling threat targeting American military bases right across the Middle East. Trump has warned that either Iran will accept a deal or the US will return to strikes. 'It will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all — Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before — And nobody wants that,' the President posted on Truth Social Monday.
Secret negotiations are still a frantic work in progress, Secretary of State Marco Rubio confessed earlier Tuesday, warning it could still take 'a few days' of intense hammering to iron out the details. There is one caveat, though: the entire high-stakes summit risks being completely scrapped at the eleventh hour due to bad weather. While Trump typically flies to Camp David via helicopter, the heavy patch of rain in Washington could prompt a 'sudden change of location' if skies don't clear.
If it does move forward, the upcoming meeting will bring Trump's career total of Camp David visits to just 17 across his two presidencies. In the meantime, the Daily Mail has learned that the White House is hosting a dinner with Cabinet officials in attendance at the Rose Garden tonight at 7pm.
Trump's second-term Cabinet has seen a rapid succession of high-profile departures, all female cabinet members, over the last three months. All were marked by forced ousters, sudden resignations and internal friction. The President fired Kristi Noem from her position as the Secretary of Homeland Security back in March of this year. Noem's departure made her the first major Cabinet departure of Trump's second term, ending a turbulent tenure that lasted just over a year. Trump simultaneously reassigned her to a new role as the Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas.
Her removal followed several other departures within Trump's cabinet. The administration faced its next major shakeup in April when Trump removed Attorney General Pam Bondi. Her abrupt dismissal followed growing dissatisfaction among Trump allies regarding her leadership and the Justice Department's handling of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, alongside friction over the pace of investigations into the administration's political opponents.
Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer also resigned later that month amid an ethics probe into her husband's alleged advances on female staffers, accusations she ordered employees to bring booze on work trips and claims she was having an affair with a bodyguard. Most recently, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced her resignation last week, effective at the end of June. Gabbard publicly said she is stepping away from public office to care for her husband following a rare bone cancer diagnosis, though her departure followed months of reported policy disagreements with White House officials over national security strategy regarding Iran.
The Daily Mail has contacted the White House for comment.
