We're kicking off a new feature in Secrets that looks closer at the people, places and buzz in town, called "Deep Background." Tips? Send em to pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com

President Trump avoids the Oval Office and hasn't set foot in his private office next door, instead setting up camp in the small dining room two doors down. Insiders tell us that Trump feels the Oval is too formal and a better ceremonial setting, and he can't mess up the desk with his ever-present box of papers. Key: Only the dining room has a TV. "He likes to hold court in the dining room, make calls," we were told. More: His seat of choice is a plain dining room chair. Many presidents have treated the Oval Office very formally, even dressing differently and businesslike when inside. Except Bill Clinton, who used to go to it after a sweaty jog. ...

Stories obviously pushed by some White House staff that Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul isn't a team player are threatening to break up his bromance with Trump. "Not helpful," said one observer, noting that Paul is often a lone voice in the Senate supporting the president, who he talks to often and even golfs with. Heck he was the one who Trump gave his pen to after signing a directive Paul championed to loosen Obamacare's mandates. ...

Retired Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl, now back home in Wisconsin, made a surprise return visit Wednesday to his favorite Senate-side restaurant, the Monocle. Newsmax boss Chris Ruddy was at BLT in the Trump International. ...

GOP senators are begging Trump to stick with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, warning they don't have the "bandwidth" for a nomination fight. ...

Zack Roday has left his post as the spokesman for House Speaker Paul Ryan's political shop, dubbed Team Ryan, to be the first ever communications director at the Republican Attorneys General Association. Roday's June bride, Alleigh Marré, has joined Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson as her deputy chief of staff. ...

Washington Post White House reporter Abby Phillip was feted at a newsroom going-away party before leaving for CNN. ...

Republican fundraiser Sara Bonjean and former Democratic fundraiser Elizabeth Kelley talked money and politics at the campaign management course taught by former Speaker John Boehner spox Michael Steel and former diplomat Scott Mulhauser at Georgetown University's Institute of Politics at the McCourt School of Public Policy. …

Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps was at PhRMA's Research & Hope Awards 2017 dinner talking about the challenges he had with depression, anxiety and mental health. Awards: PhRMA Research & Hope Visibility & Progress Award to WRC's Doreen Gentzler, PhRMA Research & Hope Community Champion Award to Peggy Symons of the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Greater Orlando, PhRMA Research & Hope Excellence in Advocacy & Activism Award to Florida Judge Steven Leifman, PhRMA Research & Hope Excellence in Academic Research Award to P. Jeffrey Conn, director of the Vanderbilt Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery, PhRMA Research & Hope Excellence in Biopharmaceutical Research Award to Dr. Husseini K. Manji, global head of neuroscience at Janssen Research & Development, LLC...

Yes, that was a "CNN SUCKS" t-shirt worn by a Trump supporter next to the media pen at the president's Wednesday tax speech in Harrisburg, Pa. ...

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com