“The top executives, the top bankers, they’re all calling,” Trump said. “It’s like a complete opposite.”
He recalled standing by the pasta table exchanging words with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom Trump has chosen to lead the Health Department.
The resort is the “Center of the Universe,” Trump declared on social media Friday, adding, “Bill Gates asked to come, tonight.” Representatives for Trump and Gates didn’t clarify if the Microsoft co-founder did indeed join the parade of figures making the trip to Mar-a-Lago.
But the president-elect’s post reflects the way his resort, where he’s largely been holed up since the election, has become a salon and celebration for his movement.
It’s not clear what Trump planned for New Year’s Eve — he has traditionally held a bash at the resort — but in his social media post on Friday, he boasted, “New Year’s Eve is going to be AMAZING!!!”
“We’re off to a really good start,” Trump told people gathered for the event. He then inquired about the whereabouts of Tom Homan, whom he has tapped to be border czar, and joked that Homan was from “central casting.”
“Pretty amazing,” he said. “Is this real life, or am I in a dream?”
Trump shared with the party guests that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, whom he threatened with a 25% tariff on all imported goods unless she does more to tackle illegal border crossings and drug flows, “has made progress.”
During dinners with friends and family, Trump uses the Spotify account on his tablet to play many of the same tunes that were ubiquitous at his campaign rallies. One night, his guest of honor was Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Another night, the honor went to Akie Abe, the widow of slain Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. And, yes, that was Argentine President Javier Milei doing Trump’s “Y.M.C.A.” dance between the tables at a gala dinner.
Kevin Roberts, president of the think tank behind Project 2025, spoke at a December event with investors at the club. One of the guests at the small function was health care executive Dr. Peter Lamelas, later tapped by Trump to be U.S. ambassador to Argentina.
Actor Russell Brand traveled this month to the club to speak at an event, where he sat with actor Mel Gibson, former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson and others. Later in the evening, he stood by a palm tree on the lawn, listening to a bagpiper in a kilt.
Brand later posted a video to X about his experience.
“It’s the place to be and the place to be seen,” said Damian Merlo, a political strategist who advises the Salvadoran president, Nayib Bukele. Merlo was at that event as well as another event hosted by the Conservative Political Action Committee.
Associated Press writer Mary Claire Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.
Sightings of those turning up there, usually in photos posted online or in the occasional public event, offer a glimpse into the workings of Trump’s incoming White House and how he is setting priorities for office.
PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The cars begin lining up early in the morning to be screened by Secret Service agents under white tents near the fence that surrounds President-elect Donald Trump’s vast south Florida estate.
For the people he’s selected for his administration — and those who seek to get jobs or curry favor with the incoming president — it’s the place to be.
