Report: Wealthy Trump buddies running VA

The real deep state is not run out of smoky Washington back rooms, but from President Donald Trump’s beachside Mara-Lago resort in South Florida.

A shadowy cabal of ultrawealthy members of Trump’s glitzy club in Palm Beach are effectively running the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to a report released by ProPublica on Tuesday.

Reclusive Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter, physician Bruce Moskowitz and lawyer Marc Sherman — known within the agency as the “Mar-a-Lago crowd” — have influenced policy and made personnel decisions at the VA.

Trump’s golfing buddies exert “sweeping influence” over the embattled agency despite none of the three men serving in the military or holding government positions.

ProPublica obtained hundreds of documents showing how involved the three are in the department, expecting officials — including the secretary — to visit with them regularly at Mar-a-Lago.

An email sent to David Shulkin in February 2017, after Trump nominated him to be the VA secretary, shows just how connected the three were to the inner workings of the department.

“We do not need to meet in person monthly, but meet face to face only when necessary,” Moskowitz wrote to Shulkin. “We will set up phone conference calls at a convenient time.”

A White House memo obtained by ProPublica also reveals that a number of officials singled out by the trio have all been let go at an agency plagued by a lack of leadership.

The memo recommended replacing Shulkin, who later stepped away from his post amid an ethics scandal, and a host of other staffing changes.

“Put (Shulkin) on notice to exit after major legislation and key POTUS VA initiatives in place,” the memo said. “Utilize outside team (Ike).”

White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters told ProPublica the three “have no direct influence over the Department of Veterans Affairs.”