Trump assigns Airbnb co-founder for a site overhaul on public web portals
In a surprising move, US President Donald Trump has appointed Joe Gebbia, the 44-year-old co-founder of Airbnb, to lead the newly established National Design Studio. The executive order, signed on Thursday, establishes the agency with a three-year mandate to advise government agencies on usability, aesthetics, and standardized design, with the aim of cutting duplication costs.
Gebbia, a former Rhode Island School of Design classmate of Brian Chesky, has shown an impressive track record in the private sector. In 2007, he and Chesky launched Airbnb due to a rent increase, which led to the creation of the successful home-sharing platform. By 2024, Airbnb had hosted over 1.5 billion guest arrivals and operated in over 220 countries and regions. The company reached a market value in the tens of billions of dollars after its 2020 IPO on Nasdaq.
Gebbia's vision for the National Design Studio echoes the simplicity, reliability, and satisfaction that characterised the Apple App Store. He aims to make government websites "beautiful," run on modern software, and provide an excellent user experience. Gebbia's appointment follows his shift from being a major Democratic donor to aligning with Trump in 2024.
In addition to his role at the National Design Studio, Gebbia has also joined a "small council of advisers" to oversee DOGE following Musk's departure. He has also been tasked with digitizing the US federal retirement system and identifying federal spending deemed unnecessary in the DOGE team.
The National Design Studio's creation comes as part of Trump's ongoing efforts to modernize and improve the user experience of the U.S. government's digital services. With Gebbia at the helm, the agency is poised to make a significant impact in the coming years.
