Trump’s Mar-A-Lago: Mixing work, business, pleasure

PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump is back in his comfort zone at the “winter White House.” Mar-a-Lago is where women in furs and men in diamond jewelry and monogrammed slippers mingle with Sylvester Stallone and Fabio at New Year’s Eve celebrations, and Don King rubs elbows with Cabinet members, could-be ambassadors and the “MyPillow” guy at dinner.

Trump arrived at the club on Tuesday night and by Wednesday morning was at his nearby golf course, taking advantage of the good golfing weather by playing “a quick round” with golf legend Jack Nicklaus, Nicklaus’s professional golfer son Gary, and his grandson G.T., the White House said. As he departed Washington, Trump said he’d be doing “a lot of work” while in Florida, but Mar-A-Lago also serves as the president’s refuge from Washington.

All presidents have had their favorite retreats: George H.W. Bush’s family had a compound in Kennebunkport, Maine; George W. Bush loved his ranch in Crawford, Texas; and Barack Obama savored winter getaways to his home state of Hawaii. But none has drawn the fascination — or raised the ethical issues — of Mar-a-Lago, where Trump spends his time mixing work, business and pleasure in the company of dues-paying members.

It’s one of the many ways in which Trump has transformed the presidency and managed to hold onto the life he had before taking office.

“His visits to Mar-a-Lago are part of the original sins of his presidency, and the fact that he’s returning there shows that he has not learned his lesson,” said former White House ethics lawyer Norman Eisen. He described the club as “a place where, for sky-high admissions fees, business executives who have strong interests before the government can literally engage in purchasing access to the president. Those fees also seem to be down payments on ambassadorships.”

Indeed, Trump recently picked Lana Marks, a Palm Beach handbag designer and Mar-a-Lago member, to serve as U.S. ambassador to South Africa. She’s the fourth member to be nominated for such a post, according to the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, where Eisen serves as board chairman.

Members now clamor for dinner reservations on nights they know Trump will be in town. Membership fees are up.