GOP’s Trump dinner confirmed for Miami resort
The location of the Republican Party of Florida’s annual Statesman’s Dinner featuring President Trump was finally revealed Friday after weeks of mystery.
But part of the secrecy will remain, as the party is mandating that all cell phones be given up beforehand to ensure no video or audio recordings come out of the event, which had already been closed to the news media.
And the question remains as to how much money the event will raise for the party.
Tickets for the dinner, set for 5 p.m. Saturday at the JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa in Aventura, which were available as late as Wednesday, went for $350 on the GOP website.
The largest ballroom at Turnberry holds about 2,000 people for a banquet, according to the Elite Meetings website.
So if the event is sold out, the maximum ticket revenues would be $700,000.
Asked how much money the party expected to take in for the event considering the size of the venue and no VIP tickets having been listed for sale, state GOP chair Joe Gruters said in a text, “$350 are [for the] general admission tickets, we will put out a release on Sunday or Monday.”
The tickets state, “no video or audio recordings are permitted during this event,” adding that there will be “an opportunity to securely seal your cellphone at the point of entry.” Anyone who doesn’t want their cellphone checked is advised not to bring one.
The dinner was originally scheduled to be held last month at Walt Disney World in Orlando, but was abruptly canceled in October — only for Gov. DeSantis to announce the next morning it was rescheduled for Dec. 7, but with no location given.
Even when the party announced it would be in Miami, no specific resort was named. As late as Wednesday, executive director Peter O’Rourke told The Palm Beach Post when asked about the location, “I don’t know anything about it” and hung up.
The Orlando Sentinel reported Thursday two lawmakers said it would be held in Aventura. Emails started going out Thursday night to ticket buyers listing Turnberry as the location.
Trump will also appear at the Israeli-American Council conference at the Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood Saturday, the location of which was announced last month.