Donald Trump is returning to the White House. Unlike most who have come before him, he will not be joined by a pet

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. While President Harry Truman once famously remarked that the only sure way to find a friend in the American capital was to “get a dog,” President-elect Trump has chosen to keep his White House among the 55 percent of American residences that don’t have a canine companion among them. open image in gallery Trump’s rhetoric often features the phrase ‘like a dog’ – but carrying negative connotations Trump’s rhetoric has always been peppered with canine references, usually suggestions that a person he doesn’t like has done something negative “like a dog.” Sometimes, he’s gone further, such in a 2018 tweet when he called out former staffer turned tell-all book writer Omarosa Manigault Newman following the release of her White House memoir, Unhinged, writing: “When you give a crazed, crying lowlife a break, and give her a job at the White House, I guess it just didn’t work out. Conan, who was injured during the mission when al-Baghdadi detonated an explosive suicide vest, briefly captured the nation’s attention in the wake of that military victory, and the then-president later welcomed that courageous canine to the White House for a brief ceremony to present Conan with a medal and a plaque, allowing the Belgian Malinois to be handled and pet by then-Vice President Mike Pence just outside the Oval Office. open image in gallery Numerous recent presidents, including Obama, have had pets in the White House Trump, always attuned to the importance of celebrity status, told reporters at the time that Conan was “right now probably the world’s most famous dog.” “Conan did a fantastic job.