Trump’s Private Club Business Rakes In More Cash Than Ever

BY JOSH DAWSEY AND EMILY GLAZER

Donald Trump’s private clubs have emerged as a key money-making venture for the president’s second term, and a hub for donors and favorseekers alike.

It now costs a record $1 million to join Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida resort, according to people familiar with the membership fees, up from about $500,000 during his first term.

The initiation fee at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, N.J. rose to $125,000, surging from $75,000 in recent years, a person close to that club said. Another Trump golf club, near Mar-a-Lago in Florida, now charges more than $300,000 to join, according to people familiar with the matter.

Trump has encouraged Republican Party officials to hold events at his clubs, where he headlines official dinners and cocktail parties. The clubs have in turn also attracted a new clientele of donors seeking to influence policy in the White House, including cryptocurrency executives pushing for deregulation, advocates seeking pardons for allies, and business leaders looking for exemptions from tariffs, among others.

One of the biggest such events yet is set to take place Thursday at Trump’s golf course outside Washington, when his cryptocurrency venture is hosting a gala dinner for his $TRUMP memecoin’s biggest holders. Many of the investors are foreign, and some of the top givers have been promised official tours of the White House, according to the advertisement for the event.

He is forging ahead with the event over the objections of some of his own aides and lawyers, who were initially shocked that he had agreed to it, according to people familiar with the event’s planning.

Organizers asked prospective guests to take part in background checks, but the White House hasn’t extensively vetted them, the people said.

A White House official said the president’s assets are in a trust managed by his children and added that the White House had nothing to do with the Thursday event.

“The president left his realestate empire to run for office and serve our country, and he has sacrificed greatly in doing so. Every decision he makes as president is always in the best interest of the country,” said Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary.

A spokeswoman for the Trump Organization didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Unprecedented

Presidential historians say there has never been such a moneymaking venture run by a president from inside the White House.

“Trump is our first billionaire president and doesn’t seem content with that status. He sees the next four years as a waste of time if he cannot find a way to get richer out of the endeavor,” said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian at Rice University.

After the announcement last month of the May 22 dinner, Democrats and government- watchdog groups condemned it as possibly violating ethics rules. Trump’s own son, Eric Trump, was even taken aback when he heard about the dinner, said people familiar with his reaction.

Inside the White House, Trump aides at the time hadn’t plotted out his official schedule that far. Several aides with access to his calendar said they weren’t aware of such a dinner, and some suspected it was potentially fake. The Trump Organization had nothing to do with the event, people familiar with its planning said.

Trump had agreed to do it, telling aides it was a “private business engagement” that he had with Palm Beach, Fla., businessman Bill Zanker, and part of the promotion for his crypto coin. Trump dismissed concerns from senior White House staffers, people familiar with the matter said, who are planning to skip the event.

Trump has known Zanker, who is responsible for the company “Fight Fight Fight!” that sells Trump-branded merchandise and shares profits with Trump, for a long time. Zanker previously founded companies such as the Great American BackRub, a group of massage stores. He is a frequent presence at Mara- Lago, Trump advisers say.

Zanker didn’t respond to requests for comment.

New customers

In the days leading up to inauguration, Trump regularly marveled at how many customers he could bring to Mara- Lago now that he was going to be president again, according to visitors who heard the remarks. Trump soon recognized how “hot” the club was, the visitors said. He then decided to return almost every weekend.

These days, visitors to the club say the crowd has changed and is stacked with more people who want to see the president for business reasons, including cryptocurrency executives.

Since Trump won the White House, five lobbyists said they repeatedly were being asked by clients how to get into the club to potentially see the president, particularly clients looking for exemptions on tariffs.

Trump usually sits in the center of the dining room, where a velvet rope hanging on gold stands surrounds his table. When Trump walks in, people clap. Attendees typically can’t approach his table, but he may climb over the rope to greet people or call them over. Trump himself has encouraged people to join as he walks about the patio, and the club is near capacity.

So far this year, the Republican Party has held both its spring donor retreat and its volunteer retreat at his clubs. The organization usually holds a multiday donor retreat in the spring that features a range of speakers. This year, Trump was the only keynote speaker.