WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump draws a wiggly line between work, play and business at the private club he calls his “winter White House.”
Like George H.W. Bush and his family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, or George W. Bush with his ranch in Crawford, Texas, Trump has made Mar-a-Lago his refuge from Washington. It’s where he slips back into the role of glad-handing host that he played for years before waging his winning presidential campaign.
Club members described Trump as being in an especially good mood over the past five days, as he kicked off Palm Beach’s winter social season surrounded by family and (mostly paying) friends and golfed with some of the game’s greats.
His Thanksgiving dinner felt more like a homecoming, with more than 500 club members and guests packed into Mar-a-Lago’s enormous, gilded ballroom for a meal that included traditional turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes, as well as local favorites like Florida stone crab.
Trump sat at a long table in the middle of the room, according to several attendees. A photo posted by one showed the table set with a glittering tablecloth and bright blooms.
“Everybody was there,” said Toni Holt Kramer, a Mar-a-Lago member who founded a boosters’ group called Trumpettes U.S.A. and is a loyal Trump supporter.
“It was very thrilling, because when the president and first lady entered, without anybody saying anything, the whole room rose and everyone started applauding. And they didn’t stop, and it was just overwhelming. And you just sort of choked, because it was so beautiful,” she said. “The unity was overwhelming.”
The club’s Saturday dinner service also was packed, with guests spilling into the patio, the dining room and supplemental space. Among those spotted in the crowd: Fox News anchor Bret Baier and his wife, golfing legend Jack Nicklaus, whom Trump had played with earlier in the day at his nearby West Palm Beach course, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
Kramer described the president circling the room, saying hellos, shaking everyone’s hands and posing for photos.
“He is the president of the United States,” she said, but “he’s the same person as he was when he was just plain old Mr. Trump.”
Trump’s only public events took place Thursday, when the president held a video conference call with service members stationed around the world and visited a nearby Coast Guard station to hand out lunches>
AP