STORMY DANIELS STOPS AT CLUB NEXT TO TRUMP GOLF COURSE
Politics at heart of discussion; she’s a ‘traitor,’ one man says.
SUBURBAN WEST PALM BEACH — The crowd wandered in and out of Ultra Gentlemen’s Club on Friday evening, some coming early to grab $35 seats or tickets for the 10 p.m. or midnight shows, some leaving under still-blue skies before the onset of stripper Stormy Daniels, President Trump’s alleged paid-for-silence porn star paramour.
To some, the politics was the heart of the attraction, to others it didn’t matter.
“That b ..... is a traitor,” said one man, leaving the club at 6 p.m. He added that he was coming back later, though. “I’m going to drink a lot of beers, but I’m not going to give her a single cent. Trump is my president.”
Another on his way out said he hadn’t known she would be there but didn’t care, either. “I’m happy for her to make money. She’s irrelevant, as far as the direction of the country,” said Chris Duffy, a Boca Raton resident. With North Korea, Syria and “a fantastic, roaring economy and other important issues,” he said, “all CNN wants to worry about is Stormy Daniels.”
Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, was scheduled as the headliner, around the corner from the entrance to Trump International Golf Club and only 4 miles from Mar-aLago. The marquee at the club at 322 S. Congress Ave. boasted of her arrival. “Make America Horny Again,” it said.
The president, who has denied Daniels’ claims, is scheduled to arrive in Palm Beach on Monday afternoon to host Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife on Tuesday and Wednesday. According to Federal Aviation Administration notices, Trump is expected to stay in the area until
Thursday.
In addition to her weekend stripping gigs, Daniels is reportedly cooperating with federal investigators who on Monday raided the office of Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen. Cohen arranged a $130,000 payment to Daniels just before the 2016 election to keep silent about her alleged affair with Trump. The president told reporters aboard Air Force One last week that he had no knowledge of the payment.
West Palm Beach resident John Allison, a former Palm Beacher, said Friday he didn’t look upon the Ultra appearance as revenge on Trump or politics. “The fun is the novelty of it,” he said, anticipating the 10 p.m. show.
His guest, a Palm Beach woman who declined to give her name, said she looked forward to the performance but strongly supported the President. “Things are going in the right direction,” she said.
The Ultra club is along one of the routes Trump’s motorcade often takes to his golf course. On at least one occasion, in February, the presidential convoy drove past the club’s sign advertising Daniels’ appearances. She is performing two shows each night at Ultra, with tickets ranging from $25 to $1,000 for a 20-person “VIP room” near the stage.
Ultra manager Stacy Saccal said the Daniels shows are nearly sold out and the weekend “by far will be the biggest” in her 11 years managing the club and its predecessor, T’s Lounge. The only comparable event, Saccal said, was the 2013 appearance by Nadya “Octomom” Suleman.
Daniels was already a wellknown performer, writer and director in the pornographic film industry and a veteran of the strip club circuit when The Wall Street Journal reported Jan. 12 about the $130,000 pre-election payment to Daniels.
Documents related to that payment were reportedly among the items seized Monday when federal agents raided Cohen’s office.