NEW YORK – When senior White House officials wanted to know what mood the president was in before a meeting, they used to look for guidance from Keith Schiller, a man with a hangdog face who sat in a small, shared office off the Oval.

When friends and advisers outside the West Wing wanted to share a news article, gossip or advice with President Donald Trump, they would be advised to “send it to Keith, he’ll get it to me.” After Trump decided to fire FBI director James Comey, it was Schiller who was tasked with hand-delivering the letter.


And when the White House kitchen staff couldn’t match the satisfaction of a quarter-pounder with cheese (no pickles, extra ketchup) and a fried apple pie, it was Schiller, bodyguard and Trump whisperer, who would head down New York Avenue to McDonald’s on a stealth fast food run.

Trump’s longtime aide de camp and “head of Oval Office operations,” who left the White House in September, has been around “the Boss,” as he still refers to the president, longer than anyone else in Trump’s current circle. The former NYPD cop became head of security at Trump Tower in 2005.

On Tuesday, the former aide is due back in Washington, a city other aides said the lifelong New Yorker never liked or understood, to appear before the House Intelligence Committee for an interview as part of its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Schiller is expected to be grilled about Trump’s 2013 trip to Moscow — and the infamous 35-page dossier of compromising information about Trump’s behavior during a trip to visit the Miss Universe pageant, according to a report by the Washington Post.

In interviews with more than half a dozen White House officials and former advisers, many shrugged off the potential for any big revelation to come out of Schiller’s testimony.

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Even Democrats were dismissive of the exercise as nothing more than the GOP bringing in Schiller with the blessing of the White House in order to help discredit the dossier.

But many Trump officials and friends said their main concern is that the sight of Trump's longest-serving and closest aide — the man who is widely credited with knowing how to manage the president’s moods, his diet, what triggers him and what soothes him — being hauled in front of a committee could aggravate Trump as he enters a series of high-stakes meetings with the Chinese on his 12-day trip through Asia.

“The image of Keith walking in and testifying is not going to make the president happy,” said one former campaign aide. “That is a loyal lieutenant being dragged in. That’s clearly going to upset him.” And even though Trump will be abroad and distracted from the latest wrinkles in the ongoing Russia probes, the former aide said he’s unlikely to miss Schiller’s day on the Hill. “He’s DVRing it, don’t fool yourself,” the aide said.

A spokesman for California Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, declined to comment on Schiller’s testimony or the progress of the probe. White House attorney Ty Cobb did not respond to calls and emails.

The departure of the loyal bodyguard – who most administration insiders say was the first person to see Trump in the morning and the last person to communicate with him at night – was seen as the end of an era for the Trump administration. Among a stream of high-powered resignations, it was Schiller’s more under-the-radar leave-taking, White House officials say, that has had the longest-lasting effect on the president. Trump appreciates the order imposed by chief of staff John Kelly, friends say, but he also feels more isolated under the new regime.

Since taking over as chief of staff, Kelly has made it part of his mission to make it clear to all government employees that they serve the constitution, the country and the man occupying the presidency, in that order. Schiller, in contrast, was very clear about who he had upended his life and taken a pay cut to serve: Donald J. Trump.

In Washington, Schiller rented an apartment just a few blocks away from the White House, so that he could be available quickly and often, people familiar with the arrangement said. While he was treated with a certain reverence by all staffers, who understood the important and unique role he played in Trump’s orbit, he also never bristled at the lower-level tasks that were part of his portfolio.

During the campaign, he would make runs to the McDonald’s near the Marine Air Terminal in Queens while Trump waited in the limo – Egg McMuffins were often the order in the morning, or two quarter-pounders and a large fries later in the day, according to a former aide. Ahead of rallies, it was Schiller who would be in touch with the campaign’s war room of staffers monitoring Twitter for potential protesters or troublemakers, ready to be on alert for disruptions.

And he became a well-known figure at rallies – even rushing the stage to grab his boss when a protester hurled himself at the barricades at an Ohio rally in March 2016.

In the White House, he shared a cramped office first with Trump’s director of social media, Dan Scavino, and then with Trump’s other body man, Johnny McEntee. But one former White House official said Schiller always knew his role: he would never hover in the Oval Office for meetings, the way other aides vying for prominence tried to assert themselves. He would come and go only when Trump bellowed for him. But others often sought him out for advice.

“Anytime I had a meeting with the president,” recalled one campaign operative, “I’d always check with him about his mood and what he thought I should focus on. There are only two whisperers in Trump world, as far as I’m concerned,” the former aide said. While communications director Hope Hicks and the Trump family members have a certain status and understanding of Trump, the aide added, “it’s Keith Schiller and [Trump attorney] Michael Cohen.”

Many longtime characters inhabiting Trump’s world have few memories of Trump that don’t include Schiller by his side. Counselor Kellyanne Conway, for example, recalled that the first time she met Schiller was also the first time she met Trump: when she joined the condo board of Trump World Tower in 2006.

Schiller’s critical behind-the-scenes role was undermined by Kelly’s arrival, multiple officials said. For one, Kelly sought to implement a system where Schiller would be reporting to him, not directly to the president. But it wasn’t so much his status as presidential confidante that Kelly challenged, but his role as a go-between for Trump allies on the outside who wanted to communicate with the president. Schiller, friends said, was told he could no longer pass on news articles or messages directly to the president.

It’s still not entirely clear why Schiller left Trump’s side after almost two decades. Some cite money problems, while others say he simply didn’t see a place for himself in the structure Kelly was implementing, and didn’t like how Kelly treated him or the president. Others pushed back against the notion of a “him or me” ultimatum with Kelly, and said he remained deeply loyal to Trump.

Since his departure from the administration, friends said Schiller has relocated to Boca Raton, Florida, to work a high-paying private security gig – no one is quite sure for whom.

“It was far less a reduction of his role as confidante,” one senior administration official said of the changes that came with Kelly. “It was far more a reduction of his role as conduit.”

