- President Trump continues to host his annual New Year’s Eve party at the Mar-A-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
- A longtime member of Mar-A-Lago told CNN this week that at least 500 discussions have been confirmed so far.
- The lavish end-of-year party is a traditional Trump tradition for which conspicuous guests have already paid thousands to attend.
- It is unclear whether any guidelines for coronavirus will be in place.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
President Trump plans to end the year in style as preparations for his annual New Year’s Eve gala at the Mar-A-Lago Resort in Florida are well underway.
The lavish black tie event, in which participants allegedly paid $ 1,000 per ticket in 2019, is a tradition of the Trump family dating back to 2000.
Although there is no confirmed number of guests attending this year’s finals, a longtime member of Mar-A-Lago told CNN on Tuesday that at least 500 bookings have been made so far.
It is unclear whether any coronavirus guidelines will be in place and whether guests adhere to them.
The New Year’s party was previously attended by the president’s family, celebrities and Republican big wigs, including Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
In 2018, the president could not attend due to the strike of the government, but first lady Melania Trump kept the program going without her husband.
The president spent the 2020 holiday between the White House and his newly renovated luxury residence in Palm Beach, mostly playing golf and tweeting about stimulus checks.
Despite the ongoing pandemic, activities in the Mar-a-Lago resort appear to be in full swing, and one member told CNN that the beach club area by the pool is so crowded that guests are arguing over the available chairs .
“People are going to dinner as usual,” said the source, who according to CNN apparently has “little respect for the pandemic.”
New Year’s Eve will take place as cases of coronavirus and deaths continue to rise across the country.
More than 19.5 million people are currently infected with the coronavirus in the United States. According to a Johns Hopkins University tracker, nearly 340,000 died from it.
According to Tuesday, Florida reported more than 12,000 cases of coronavirus and 105 deaths related to viruses.
Dr Anthony Fauci warned this week that the country is currently in a critical spot and that the worst is yet to come.
“We could very well see a post-season – in the sense of Christmas, New Year’s Day, and as I described it, as a boom after a boom,” told CNN.