No official statement has been given for the early departure of the president of Mar-a-Lago, although he is still fed up with efforts to reverse the election results and tensions are rising in the Persian Gulf ahead of the one-year anniversary of the US assassination. on Iran’s top general.
Without the president as the centerpiece, the wattage of Thursday night’s party was a bit dimmer. Performers whose heyday was a decade ago – Vanilla Ice and Berlin – performed from the main stage of the ballroom. Guests took selfies with Giuliani, wearing a blue velvet tuxedo jacket, and Judge Jeanine Pirro of Fox News, along with personalities from the right-wing television network OANN.
Instead of their father, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump among the guests mingled with their respective others, Kimberly Guilfoyle and Lara Trump. Tiffany Trump also attended, although Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were not seen.
Tables set for 10 people, without social distance, were folded in the ballroom with white flower arrangements and candles in a sculpture meant to look like the New Year’s Eve ball. The menu consisted of ‘Mr. Trump’s Wedge Salad ‘- the club has’ Mr. Trump ‘instead of’ President Trump ‘on the court – cheese tortellini and Wagyu beef.
Many guests and entertainers were left disappointed when they learned from CNN late Wednesday that Trump would be leaving Florida early. The person familiar with the matter has been steadily rising ticket prices for the New Year’s Eve gala since Trump took office.
Discussions for the party escalated when it became clear that Trump would travel to Florida for the holidays after skipping his traditional Thanksgiving visit. Guests and artists were initially reluctant to commit to the event without knowing if the president would show up.
As many as 500 tickets were sold for this year’s event, which is slightly less – but not much – than in the past. The Donald J. Trump Ballroom in Mar-a-Lago has a capacity of 700.
The president was expected to attend until Wednesday. But by evening, the news came that he and the first lady would leave early the next day. Trump remained largely out of sight at his club during his stay when he determined the election results and the Jan. 6 effort to delay the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
This left the party without its usual center: a speech by the president and a chance to see the first lady.
Like other events this year at Mar-a-Lago, almost no guests wore masks.
It gave a book push at the start of the pandemic, when a similar maskless birthday party for Guilfoyle in the Mar-a-Lago ballroom was an earlier event.