Scoop: Trump's new "Apple Store"
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Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Joe Gebbia — a co-founder of Airbnb who was named by President Trump this week to be the first U.S. chief design officer — tells Axios he wants to update federal websites to an "Apple Store-like experience."
- "That means it's beautifully designed," Gebbia told us, "has great user experience, and it runs on modern software" — three strikes when it comes to dealing with today's government.
Why it matters: Airbnb — which over 17 years has become a ubiquitous verb for what used to be a classified-ad section at the back of the newspaper — applied those same three principles to renting a vacation home. "There's no reason why the government can't have that, too," Gebbia said.
- And Trump is making it a legacy project.
Gebbia points out that mobile apps and websites are the "front door to the government" for most Americans. It's "an injustice that our interfaces are horribly out of date," he said. "There's no reason why our government can't be a standard for great design."
- He's determined to bring Airbnb's simplicity ethos to making government websites more usable. "I'm in the camp of: The best part is no part," he said in the interview. "The exercise of designers is: You delete unnecessary parts."
Gebbia, who turned 44 on Thursday, said "spending an hour with POTUS talking about design was probably the greatest birthday present I've ever gotten." He said he and Trump — who's stamping his showy Mar-a-Lago vibe on the White House by gilding the Oval Office, paving the Rose Garden and building a sprawling ballroom — "both care about details at a pretty intense level."
- "It's the same way a hotelier anticipates the needs of their guests," Gebbia added. "As two hospitality guys, we have a mindset for that. ... This is like hospitality design for our nation."
Zoom in: Trump created Gebbia's role with an executive order, "Improving Our Nation Through Better Design." The order, saying it's "time to fill the digital potholes across our Nation," has three parts:
- The chief design officer (CDO), who reports to the White House chief of staff, will hire top creative talent from the private sector, recruiting some of the "most talented designers of our generation to serve their country."
- America by Design is a national initiative to "update the Government's design language to be both usable and beautiful."
- A National Design Studio (NDS), within the White House, will help advance America by Design, using "standardized design to enhance the public's trust in high-impact service providers," and advising federal agencies how to reduce duplicative design costs.
The backstory: Gebbia, based in Austin, is a billionaire entrepreneur who's one of three Airbnb co-founders — he and Brian Chesky hosted the first guests in 2007. Gebbia is also on Tesla's board. But he started as an artist, including studying at the storied Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).
- He joined DOGE in February to simplify and modernize the archaic, paper-intensive process for federal retirement. (Gebbia hasn't been involved in Airbnb operations since 2022 but is on the board. His administration role is unconnected to Airbnb.)
Gebbia told Axios he has "very successfully solved" the retirement mess, with an announcement soon. He's moving full-time into design, although he echoed his friend Elon Musk's assertion that DOGE "is a way of life, like Buddhism."
- Gebbia said his new role had its genesis in Cabinet members and other officials coming to him with the plea: "Could you please help us? Clearly, you know how to ship internet products at scale that are beautifully designed."
Help wanted: "If you're a designer, if you're a creative in the United States today, this is a moment in time to help reshape the face of our nation," Gebbia said.
- "I hope people who read this will be inspired and say: 'Wow, this really is potentially a once-in-a-generational moment.' I hope anybody who reads this knows there's an invitation to come participate."
The bottom line: Heads of agencies are supposed to produce their initial design revamps by July 4, 2026 — America's 250th birthday, which Trump the showman is leaning into with grand festivities.
- Sneak peek at new websites: America by Design ... National Design Studio.
