One night last month at Mar-a-Lago, Chris Ruddy positioned himself in a familiar spot: right next to Donald Trump.
The occasion came just days before a Republican National Committee fundraiser, one of many such events popping up at Trump’s Florida properties in his post-presidential life — a time when it has become easier for Ruddy to secure such proximity. During Trump’s four years in the White House, aides had grown suspicious of the conservative media entrepreneur’s presence and his tendency to bring friends, clients and allies to the private Palm Beach club to make an introduction. At one point, White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly went so far as to insist that more-senior White House officials accompany Trump to Mar-a-Lago to temper his interactions with members such as the Palm Beach-based Ruddy, whose Newsmax cable news channel has attempted to challenge Fox News from the right.
That night in April, Trump was riffing for his audience, and Ruddy was at the next table, facing the lobster station. Trump lamented that removing the shells made a $200 lobster look like a $2 lobster and mused that he should tell his staff to serve them in their shells to better impress diners. Continue reading.