Price says he’s working to ‘regain’ Trump’s trust

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price said Thursday evening he looks forward to regaining President Trump’s trust after Trump said he was not happy about his Cabinet member using pricey private charter jets for official government business.

“I work at the pleasure of the president. The president is a remarkable leader. I’m incredibly privileged to serve in his Cabinet and work on behalf of the American people,” Price told Fox News’s Bret Baier on “Special Report.”

“I look forward to gaining, regaining, the trust that the American people — some of the American people — may have lost in the activities that I took. And to not only regain the trust of the American people, but to gain the trust of the administration and the president,” Price said.

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Trump knocked Price’s decision to fly on private jets on Wednesday, telling reporters he was “not happy” about it and saying “we’ll see” when asked if he would fire his health secretary.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also refused to say Thursday whether Price would keep his administration post. 

“We’re going to conduct a full review and see what happens,” she said.

On Thursday afternoon, Price said he would write a personal check to the Treasury Department to reimburse taxpayers for his travel.

“I regret the concerns this has raised regarding the use of taxpayer dollars,” he said. “It is clear to me that in this case, I was not sensitive enough to my concern for the taxpayer.”

However, an HHS spokesperson told The Hill that Price’s announced check is for $51,887.31, which covers his seat on the flights but is a fraction of the overall price of the planes.

The trips are estimated to have cost taxpayers more than $400,000.

The former Georgia congressman came under fire earlier this month when Politico reported he had flown on a private jet at least 24 times during his tenure as HHS chief.

Price said Thursday evening that despite backlash over the flights, he continues to work alongside Trump. 

“We continue to work together on the issue of the hurricanes, work on global health security,” he said.

The HHS inspector general is currently probing the flights.