{"id":233,"date":"2024-12-31T12:43:01","date_gmt":"2024-12-31T12:43:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2024\/12\/31\/center-of-the-universe-trump-to-hold-court-at-new-years-eve-gala-at-mar-a-lago-usa-today\/"},"modified":"2024-12-31T12:43:01","modified_gmt":"2024-12-31T12:43:01","slug":"center-of-the-universe-trump-to-hold-court-at-new-years-eve-gala-at-mar-a-lago-usa-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/2024\/12\/31\/center-of-the-universe-trump-to-hold-court-at-new-years-eve-gala-at-mar-a-lago-usa-today\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Center of the Universe’: Trump to hold court at New Year’s Eve gala at Mar-a-Lago – USA TODAY"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

PALM BEACH, Fla. \u2014 Bill Gates maybe? Elon Musk<\/a>, you would think.<\/p>\n

It’s not yet clear just who exactly will attend President-elect Donald Trump<\/a>‘s annual New Year’s Eve gala at his Mar-a-Lago<\/a> club on Tuesday evening. But this year’s bash will have a very different vibe, that much is certain.<\/p>\n

In a social media post on Dec. 27, Trump<\/a> said Mar-a-Lago stood at the \u201cCenter of the Universe\u201d and added: \u201cNew Year\u2019s Eve is going to be AMAZING!!!\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

The red carpet event will close out a year that saw Trump survive two assassination attempts<\/a> – including one at his nearby West Palm Beach golf club – before being elected president. It will also launch 2025, with Trump’s impending inauguration, his second administration’s first 100 days and the return of the Palm Beach<\/a> compound to its “Southern White House”<\/a> fame.<\/p>\n

To be sure, the party has been on at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the Nov. 5 election. It doesn’t appear to have paused – with social media showing clips of Beach Boys’ lead vocalist Mike Love<\/a> performing there over the weekend.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Inside Mar-a-Lago:<\/strong>Trump’s private club is ground zero for a disruption-themed second term<\/a><\/p>\n

Celebrities and politicos fixtures at Trump’s galas over the past decades<\/h2>\n

Trump’s NYE party has, over the years, drawn scores of celebrities. The roster has included Tiger Woods<\/a>, Martha Stewart, Serena Williams, Rod Steward, Regis Philbin and Sylvester Stallone.<\/p>\n

Billionaires like Steve Wynn<\/a> have also been on the invite list. And on Dec. 27 Trump posted that computer software mogul Gates had asked to see him at Mar-a-Lago.<\/p>\n

During Trump’s first term as president, administration members such as Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani<\/a> attended. After he left office, and before he became a 2024 presidential candidate, steadfast MAGA supporters like “Pillow Guy” Mike Lindell and pollster Dick Morris were fixtures at the event.<\/p>\n

Performers have been as varied as the D.J. Snezana dancers, singer Vanessa Williams and, last year, Vanilla Ice<\/a> and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.<\/p>\n

Trump’s immediate family have usually attended. Last year, however, spouse Melania skipped the party to attend to her hospitalized mother, who subsequently passed away in January.<\/p>\n

Donald Trump Jr.<\/a> has attended with his former fiancee Kimberly Guilfoyle, and it remains to be seen whether he will be there with his new flame, socialite Bettina Anderson<\/a>. Eric Trump and spouse Lara have been mainstays. Barron Trump, now a college student in Manhattan, has been in attendance as well. So have Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, as well as Tiffany Trump and her husband Michael Boulos.<\/p>\n

\"Donald<\/figure>\n

Trump NYE red carpet gaggles an opportunity to speak to nation<\/h2>\n

Trump has used the black tie NYE affairs, at times, to speak to the nation directly from the red carpet adorning the walkway into the club’s ornate Donald J. Trump ballroom.<\/p>\n

On New Year’s Eve 2019, ahead of the coming election year, Trump responded to questions from reporters.<\/p>\n

He sloughed off North Korean President Kim Jong Un’s veiled threat to deliver a “Christmas gift” to the U.S. if progress is not made on lifting sanctions.<\/p>\n

“I know he’s sending out certain messages about Christmas presents, and I hope his Christmas present is a beautiful vase,” Trump said. “That’s what I’d like, a vase.”<\/p>\n

The then-president called his House impeachment and upcoming Senate trial “a big fat hoax.” He reiterated that a trade deal with China would “probably” be signed by mid-January 2020 and that “at some point” he would be going to Beijing. When Trump was asked his goal for the new year, the first lady quickly responded: “Peace on the world.”<\/p>\n

Not raised, and not mentioned that evening were the reports out of China of a viral outbreak, that by March, would become the most severe global pandemic in a century.<\/p>\n

Trump sounded out presidential campaign themes at NYE 2022<\/h2>\n

Two years ago, about two months after his latest presidential campaign launch, Trump boasted he was bullish about his chances of winning back the White House going into 2023, adding he had received some poll numbers that looked “fantastic.”<\/p>\n

Trump then sounded out what would become familiar stump themes \u2014 immigration, the economy and a “weaponized” judicial system going into a year in which he would be indicted four times.<\/p>\n

“We need a strong border and we need it now,” he said, and then added: “We also have to bring back the economy \u2026 with inflation destroying our country.”<\/p>\n

But Trump notably sidestepped questions about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, his subsequent GOP primary rival, calling for an investigation of COVID-19 vaccines, a key legacy of Trump’s single term in the White House, and whether he supported a national abortion ban. He also walked away from a question asking if he would observe the second anniversary of the Jan. 6 violence and alleged coup attempt at the U.S. Capitol.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

But he exuded confidence about his White House comeback campaign.<\/p>\n

“I think we’re doing really well,” he said. “We’re going to do very well with Make America Great Again. It’s very simple, Make America Great Again.”<\/p>\n

Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor\u00a0at\u00a0The Palm Beach Post<\/a>, part of the\u00a0USA TODAY Florida Network.\u00a0You can reach him at\u00a0afins@pbpost.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PALM BEACH, Fla. \u2014 Bill Gates maybe? Elon Musk, you would think. It’s not yet clear just who exactly will attend President-elect Donald Trump‘s annual New Year’s Eve gala at his Mar-a-Lago club on Tuesday evening. But this year’s bash will have a very different vibe, that much is certain. In a social media post […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo973e36f5\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}