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Trump family joins president for a lavish New Year's Eve party at Mar-a-Lago Trump makes characteristic start to 2018 with lavish party at Mar-a-Lago
(about 2 hours later)
Bidding farewell to 2017 with a lavish party at his private club, President Donald Trump predicted 2018 would be a “tremendous year”. Donald Trump gathered his social and political clan around him at his opulent Mar-a-Lago club in Florida to welcome in the New Year in classic Trumpian style.
Trump said on Sunday that the stock market would continue to rise and that companies were going to continue to come into the US, at “a rapid clip”. He also cited several accomplishments, including his tax overhaul, opening the Arctic national wildlife refuge to oil drilling, and repealing the individual mandate from Barack Obama’s healthcare law. “It will be a fantastic 2018,” a tuxedoed Trump said, as he entered the gilded ballroom at Mar-a-Lago, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump and son Barron, and predicted the stock market would continue to rise and businesses would come to the US at “a rapid clip”.
“It will be a fantastic 2018,” a tuxedoed Trump said, as he entered the gilded ballroom at Mar-a-Lago, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump and son Barron. The US president cited what he considered to be signal accomplishments, including opening the Arctic national wildlife refuge to oil drilling, tax reform and scrapping individual health insurance requirements.
Asked for his reaction to North Korea leader Kim Jong-un’s remarks about having a nuclear button on his desk, Trump responded by saying, “We’ll see.”Asked for his reaction to North Korea leader Kim Jong-un’s remarks about having a nuclear button on his desk, Trump responded by saying, “We’ll see.”
Guests gathered in the decorated ballroom included senior White House advisers Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Trump’s sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. and the treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin. His comments followed the release of a self-congratulatory three-and-a-half minute video earlier in the day that offered a summary of what Trump felt were the high points of his first year in office.
Since taking office, Trump has made frequent visits to his for-profit properties. He has refused to divest from his real estate and hotel empire, drawing criticism from ethics experts. “We gave birth to the modern world and we will shape tomorrow’s world with the strength and skill of American hands,” he proclaimed.
Earlier in the day, Trump capped 2017 with a video self-tribute touching on what he sees as the high points of his achievements and rhetoric from his first year in office. He gave a plug to American exceptionalism, too. Trump followed that with a Twitter post extending new year wishes to some of his familiar foes. “As our Country rapidly grows stronger and smarter, I want to wish all of my friends, supporters, enemies, haters, and even the very dishonest Fake News Media, a Happy and Healthy New Year. 2018 will be a great year for America!”
In the video, scenes of Trump with military personnel, Border Patrol agents and other world leaders are set to a stirring soundtrack as he declares of his country: “We gave birth to the modern world and we will shape tomorrow’s world with the strength and skill of American hands.” But the self-congratulatory mood came as ethics experts called out Trump’s $750-a-ticket New Year bash for crossing boundaries between the president’s public responsibilities and his private interests.
Trump cited his success in placing a justice on the supreme court, his efforts to cut regulations and his big win on overhauling taxes, which he falsely described as the “largest tax cut in the history of our country”. Richard Painter, the former top ethics lawyer in the George W Bush administration, told the Guardian on New Year’s Eve that he felt that the party – as with Trump’s continued use of Mar-a-Lago generally – offered presidential access to anyone that can afford its $200,000 initiation fee.
Trump offered the video with a New Year’s Eve message: “What a year it’s been, and we’re just getting started. Together, we are MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Happy New Year!!” “Trump continues to combine his personal business with his official work,” said Painter. The real problem, he said, was that Trump was at his so-called “Winter White House” so often that he was in effect conducting official business while promoting his own property.
He later offered another Twitter message, loaded with his signature bombast: “As our Country rapidly grows stronger and smarter, I want to wish all of my friends, supporters, enemies, haters, and even the very dishonest Fake News Media, a Happy and Healthy New Year. 2018 will be a great year for America!” “He can easily be contacted by members of Mar-a-Lago, so people who pay him or pay his company money are getting preferential access. If you go to the bar, you run into prominent government officials. So it’s lobbying, but it’s not lobbying that’s going to be disclosed under the Lobbying Disclosure Act.”
The White House said Trump been briefed on New Year’s Eve security precautions around the country and would continue to monitor those efforts. Since taking office, Trump has made frequent visits to his for-profit properties while continuing to refuse to divest from his real estate and hotel empire. Over the past year, problems with several properties, including the Trump SoHo hotel, have surfaced.
Trump offered his condolences on Sunday to the victims of a shooting in suburban Denver that killed one sheriff’s deputy and wounded six other people, including four deputies. He tweeted: “We love our police and law enforcement – God Bless them all!” But on Sunday night none of that was on display. Trump was joined by senior White House advisers Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Trump’s sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr and the treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, and wife Louise Linton.
Attendees included dozens of members of Palm Beach society. “Food was great,” posted Dr Eric Kaplan on Twitter, together with images of the menu, the guests, the Trump family, and the gilded grandiosity of their surroundings.
Trump kicked off the new year at one of his Florida golf clubs, where he hosted two professional golfers, Fred Funk and his son Taylor Funk.
Before leaving for Washington, Trump took the time to tweet out his opinion on international affairs. In one, he said Iran is “failing at every level”, and voiced his support for the protesters there, saying it was “TIME FOR CHANGE”.
In a second, he lit into Pakistan, saying the US “has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools.”
With both messages, Trump signaled the new year would be much like the old.
Happy New Year 🎉 Credit: @partyotm #melaniatrump #donaldtrump #potus #flotus #maralago #nyeHappy New Year 🎉 Credit: @partyotm #melaniatrump #donaldtrump #potus #flotus #maralago #nye
A post shared by Donald&MelaniaFanAccount (@trumpfamilywhitehouse) on Dec 31, 2017 at 11:53pm PSTA post shared by Donald&MelaniaFanAccount (@trumpfamilywhitehouse) on Dec 31, 2017 at 11:53pm PST