---
title: "President Trump Plays in Fire Truck at the White House"
description: "It's \"Made in America\" week, and they're celebrating with all the big toys."
date: "2017-07-17"
modified: "2017-07-17"
authors:
  - name: "Kyle Cheromcha"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/12563/president-trump-plays-in-fire-truck-at-the-white-house"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "America"
  - "Fire truck"
  - "forklift"
  - "front-end loader"
  - "president trump"
  - "White House"
---

# President Trump Plays in Fire Truck at the White House

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/07/gettyimages-816521842.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

It's ["Made in America" week](<https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2017/07/17/made-america>) at the White House, and President Donald Trump decided to kick off the celebrations by arranging [what's arguably a classic lineup of life-size Tonka Trucks](<https://twitter.com/jeneps/status/886991582389571584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fjalopnik.com%2Fajax%2Finset%2Fiframe%3Fid%3Dtwitter-886991582389571584%26autosize%3D1>) in front of the South Lawn. And did you really think he wouldn't take the opportunity to mess around a little bit?

[Recent history tells us](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/8596/president-trump-plays-in-semi-truck-at-the-white-house>) that President Trump enjoys playacting the various dream jobs of a seven-year-old boy when given the chance, so all eyes were on him as he prepared to take a scheduled "tour" of all that domestic machinery after greeting the fifty manufacturers assembled at the White House.

Given the choice between a CAT front-end loader, a Pierce firetruck, an Altec bucket truck, a classic Hinckley Yacht, and a Taylor forklift, the man did not disappoint. Walking with Vice President Mike Pence, President Trump made a beeline for the open door of the fire truck and hopped behind the wheel.

https://twitter.com/_/status/887035441836433408

Unfortunately he did not play with the siren (the best part, of course), but he did spend almost thirty seconds in the cab, so it's safe to say he was enjoying himself. As Pence looked on like a proud father, Trump poked around inside before leaning out and unironically asking the crowd "Where's the fire? We'll put it out fast."

And in one of the most 2017 moments of the whole episode, *Saturday Night Live* star and occasional Press Secretary Sean Spicer can briefly be seen perfectly framed in the side mirror as Trump and Pence mess with the door, recording the scene on his own phone.

https://twitter.com/_/status/887029501581959168

The whole thing shows off one of the biggest (and most understated) perks of being president: you don't have to pick up your toys when you're done.

## Author
Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/kylecheromcha.bsky.social>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/kylecheromcha>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-cheromcha-1550248a/>)