Following national emergency announcement, Trump goes golfing

The president’s public schedule contradicts his rhetoric about a crisis at the southern border.

President Donald Trump will head to his Mar-a-Lago resort and golf club Friday afternoon, hours after declaring a national emergency in order to build a wall on the southern border, according to his public schedule.

The move is not entirely surprising, given Trump’s past behavior in regards to the manufactured crisis.

Last year, the president sent troops to the border, in response to what he said was a worsening humanitarian and national security situation, only to pull them back a short while later, and then, without reason, send troops back again earlier this month. In January, Trump also delivered a televised address to the nation, laying out the supposed “crisis,” but did not declare a state of emergency, instead allowing the partial government shutdown — which began after Trump rejected a bill to fund his border wall because it did not include enough money — to drag on for more than a month.

Trump Returns This Weekend to Mar-a-Lago, His Gilded Comfort Zone

President Trump will visit Mar-a-Lago, his club in Palm Beach, Fla., for the first time since Thanksgiving.CreditCredit: Sarah Silbiger, The New York Times

WASHINGTON — After two months spent scorching the earth in Washington and complaining about being cooped up in the White House, President Trump is planning to return this weekend to the one place where he knows he will receive a hero’s welcome for his troubles: Mar-a-Lago, his gilded club by the sea in Palm Beach.

“You would have to be insensitive not to be touched by how he has stayed there working,” said Toni Holt Kramer, the founder of Trumpettes USA, a booster group that is planning to welcome him. “I think people will have tears in their eyes because they’re so grateful that he’s come back to his home away from home.”

Mr. Trump made a point of staying in Washington over the Christmas holidays — waiting, he said, for Democrats to negotiate with him on funding for a border wall — so it will be the president’s first visit to Mar-a-Lago since Thanksgiving.

View the complete January 31 article by Katie Rogers and Annie Karni on The New York Times website here.

The Shadow Rulers of the VA

The following article by Isaac Arnsdorf was posted on the ProPublica website August 7, 2018:

How Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter and two other Mar-a-Lago cronies are secretly shaping the Trump administration’s veterans policies.

Donald Trump with Ike Perlmutter and Reince Priebus. Credit: Ricky Carioti, The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Last February, shortly after Peter O’Rourke became chief of staff for the Department of Veterans Affairs, he received an email from Bruce Moskowitz with his input on a new mental health initiative for the VA. “Received,” O’Rourke replied. “I will begin a project plan and develop a timeline for action.”

O’Rourke treated the email as an order, but Moskowitz is not his boss. In fact, he is not even a government official. Moskowitz is a Palm Beach doctor who helps wealthy people obtain high-service “concierge” medical care.

More to the point, he is one-third of an informal council that is exerting sweeping influence on the VA from Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Florida. The troika is led by Ike Perlmutter, the reclusive chairman of Marvel Entertainment, who is a longtime acquaintance of President Trump’s. The third member is a lawyer named Marc Sherman. None of them has ever served in the U.S. military or government.

View the complete article here.

The Trump Foundation Donated Generously to Charities — So Long As They Booked Their Lavish Events at Mar-a-Lago

The following article by Alex Henderson was posted on the AlterNet.org website July 6, 2018:

The president himself hasn’t donated to his own foundation in ten years.

The Palm Beach Post in South Florida is reporting that the Donald Trump Foundation in Palm Beach County, Florida donated $706,000 to charities since 2008—and almost all of the donations went to charities that hosted expensive fundraisers at President Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago resort.

According to the Palm Beach Post, its review of the Trump Foundation’s tax records found a frequent pattern of charities receiving donations after they moved their events to Mar-a-Lago. The donations averaged $25,000.

One of the charities, the Palm Beach Post reported, was the Red Cross. According to the Palm Beach Post, the Red Cross received a $21,000 donation from the Trump Foundation in 2015—which was also the year in which it moved its event from The Breakers (a major high-end hotel in South Florida) back to Mar-a-Lago.

View the complete article on the AlterNet.org website here.

Trump just asked to hire foreign workers at Mar-a-Lago

The following article by Caroline Orr was posted on the ShareBlue.com website July 6, 2018:

Credit: AP Photo, Carolyn Kaster

Trump blames immigrants for stealing jobs and lowering wages — but now, he’s looking to hire foreign workers to boost his own bottom line.

As Trump rails against immigrants and falsely accuses them of stealing jobs from U.S. citizens, his private golf club in Florida is asking the government to approve a request to hire 40 more foreign workers, new filings show.

Records posted by the Department of Labor on Thursday reveal that Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club is seeking permission to hire 40 foreign workers to serve as waiters and waitresses for the winter season.

If approved, the workers would be employed from October through May at a rate of $12.68 an hour.

View the complete post on the ShareBlue.com website here.

Trump in Palm Beach: Sheriff’s OT bill for feds $3.3 million and growing

The following article by George Bennett was posted on the Palm Beach Post website April 25, 2018:

President Donald Trump greets motorcycle cops from the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office, West Palm Beach, Delray Beach and Palm Beach Gardens at Palm Beach International Airport on Sunday. Credit: Melanie Bell/The Palm Beach Post

Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputies who help protect President Donald Trump when he visits Mar-a-Lago racked up nearly $3.3 million in overtime during presidential trips between November and early February – money that county officials expect to get back from the federal government.

Congress set aside $41 million in March to reimburse local law enforcement agencies for “extraordinary…personnel costs” incurred through Sept. 30 “for protection activities directly and demonstrably associated with any residence of the President that is designated or identified to be secured by the United States Secret Service.” Continue reading “Trump in Palm Beach: Sheriff’s OT bill for feds $3.3 million and growing”

Trump dined with Hannity at Mar-a-Lago: report

The following article by John Bowden was posted on the Hill website March 31, 2018:

 

Credit: Don Emmert, AFP/Getty Images

President Trump reportedly dined with Fox News personality Sean Hannity at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida this weekend.

CNN reporter Oliver Darcy tweeted that sources had said the president had dined with Hannity Friday evening. Continue reading “Trump dined with Hannity at Mar-a-Lago: report”

Trump to Mark One-Year Anniversary With Gala at Mar-a-Lago

The following article by Jennifer Jacobs and Bill Allison was posted on the Bloomberg News website January 18, 2018:

  • Tickets for dinner event start at $100,000 per couple

  • Unclear whether government shutdown would affect travel plans

President Donald Trump will mark the first anniversary of his inauguration on Saturday with a celebration at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, with tickets starting at $100,000 a pair. Continue reading “Trump to Mark One-Year Anniversary With Gala at Mar-a-Lago”

White House aides reportedly blindsided by ’embarrassing’ Trump interview

The following article by Bryan Logan was posted on the Business Insider website December 30, 2017:

President Trump speaks Dec. 29, 2017, as he meets with members of the U.S. Coast Guard, whom he invited to play golf, at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Evan Vucci/AP)
  • White House aides were mortified by President Donald Trump’s wide-ranging interview with The New York Times, which one staffer called “embarrassing.”
  • Trump was alone with a Times reporter for the interview Thursday at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
  • The president’s comments in that 30-minute sit-down — hitting on the Russia investigation, his legislative achievements, plus domestic and world affairs — dominated headlines Friday, to the chagrin of his staff back in Washington.

Continue reading “White House aides reportedly blindsided by ’embarrassing’ Trump interview”

Time at Mar-a-Lago is a respite for Trump — and a headache for his staff

The following article by Ashley Parker and Josh Dawsey was posted on the Washington Post website December 30, 2017:

President Trump speaks Dec. 29, 2017, as he meets with members of the U.S. Coast Guard, whom he invited to play golf, at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Evan Vucci/AP)

 When President Trump sat down with a reporter for a wide-ranging, 30-minute interview at his private golf club here Thursday, not a single aide or adviser was present at the table — and not a single aide or adviser knew about it in advance.

The interview was enabled by Christopher Ruddy — a club member with a level of personal access to the president in Florida that rankles White House staffers. He invited New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt as his personal guest to lunch at Trump International Golf Club, sat near Trump’s regular table and took the reporter over to meet the president, who was still in his golf clothes. Continue reading “Time at Mar-a-Lago is a respite for Trump — and a headache for his staff”