The rest of the world at 10% tariffs is manageable, she said.

Comerford said her team started by researching the visiting leader’s likes and dislikes, then she used the information to create a menu using the best of American food while incorporating nuances from the country being recognized.. Then came tastings for the first lady to make a final decision.

Comerford, 62, started her career tending a salad bar at a Chicago airport hotel before working as a chef at restaurants in Austria and Washington. Scheib, then the White House executive chef, hired her in 1994 for a temporary gig preparing a state dinner for Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s newly elected president.Scheib then hired her as an assistant chef in 1995, and she succeeded him a decade later, becoming the first woman and first person of color to permanently hold the executive chef’s position. Comerford is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in the Philippines.Her husband, John Comerford, is a chef, too, and she credits him with sacrificing his career to be present for their daughter so she could thrive in hers. Their daughter is a pastry chef.

When Comerford retired, assistant chef Tommy Kurpradit, whose parents are from Thailand, was named interim executive chef. Melania Trump, who worked with Comerford in the first Trump administration, has not named a successor.Comerford said she managed everything with “a lot of prayers,” often said during her hourlong, early morning drive into the White House, but also by being versatile, humble, able to handle chaos and having faith in herself and her team.

“One thing with cooking at the White House, you don’t just do fine dining meals,” she said. “You have to know how to cook eggs and breakfast. You have to know to cook a smashburger.”

It also helps to remember that the job is about the family.Changes to Social Security phone services, pitched as a way to eliminate opportunities for fraud, were walked back after an outcry from lawmakers and beneficiaries. But the agency could still shed 7,000 workers while closing some of its offices.

Musk’s popularity cratered even though Americans often agreed with his premise that the federal government is bloated and wasteful,from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Just 33% of U.S. adults had a favorable view of Musk in April, down from 41% in December. In addition, 65% said Musk had too much influence over the federal government.Elon Musk flashes his t-shirt that reads “DOGE” to the media as he walks on South Lawn of the White House, in Washington, Sunday, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)