The Mar-a-Lago Club with Donald and Melania Trump in 2018.Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty
Tuesday was movie night atMar-a-Lago, where former PresidentDonald Trumpmingled with admirers and VIP guests, including members of his administration, beneath the crystal chandeliers that hang in the ballrooms of his sprawling Palm Beach, Florida, club.
The night’s agenda was familiar to anyone who has spent time around Trump in recent years: little talk ofthe obstacles that may preventhis 2024 political return — the investigations, the divisive reputation — and much discussion of how, actually, he didn’t even lose in 2020.
Trump said the premiere of the 42-minute movie had him more excited thanCitizen Kane,TitanicandGone with the Wind.
But the evening truly centered around the former president, according to alengthy and colorfulWashington Postreportfrom inside the dinner and screening, which described him as basking in adulation and posing for pictures as he moved from one lavishly decorated room to the next.
Donald Trump.Michael Kovac/WireImage
The former president gave a pair of speeches on his favorite grievances, lying to the crowd that if the 2020 election weren’t “rigged,” he would still be in the White House and Russiawould not have invaded Ukraine.
He promised the emergence of fresh evidence of fraud at levels “never thought possible” as soon as next week.
He also thrilled the paying guests with his perennial hints at a 2024 run for the presidency, saying, “We’ll make America great again, again,” according to thePost.
Bossie introduced him as the “45th and 47th president of the United States” — repeatedly.
Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s former campaign manager and a senior counselor to the president, did a curtsy on her way into the premiere of the movie in which she stars, according to the report.
Luisa Dörr for TIME.Kelly
She chatted with former Trump White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus abouther upcoming memoir, telling other advisers the punches they might receive in the pages she wrote would be “gentle,” like “a tickle.”
Former California Rep. Devin Nunes, wholeft Congressto be CEO of Trump’s new social media ventureTruth Social, was spotted on the patio chatting with Priebus.
Hope Hicks.J. Scott Applewhite/AP/REX/Shutterstock
Hope Hicks, another longtime Trump ally whoentered and exited the Trump White House(anddated Lewandowski), was also present and got a shout-out from the host. She is once again working with the family, specifically daughterIvanka.
“We love Hope!” President Trump said, per thePost.
Absent from the report was former First LadyMelania Trump. PEOPLE reached out to her rep to see if she attended and did not hear back. Sources have often said how much she enjoys the seclusion of Mar-a-Lago and preferred to avoid the political spotlight.
The reunion of officials from an administration that ended in January 2021, and the relentless focus ondebunked claims of election fraudin November 2020 — even as other erstwhile Trump supporters and Republicans still in office or on the campaign trail would prefer to look ahead — may seem out of place for an celebratory event in April 2022. But not at Mar-a-Lago.
“Some of the people here say we shouldn’t be talking about 2020,” Bossie said. “I think it’s vital that we do. If we don’t prove what happened in 2020, how can we stop it from happening again.”
source: people.com
