Mar-a-Lago gets its own ‘situation room’: Trump pictured hunkering with key advisors at
Donald Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago has its own makeshift ‘situation room’ as he plans his second term.
And images from inside the President-elect’s nearby golf club show how brainstorming has also been taking place there.
For his second term Trump and his advisors are going through candidates for jobs inside a private room at Mar-a-Lago. It is equipped with television monitors so they can view video clips and on-screen biographies of potential hires. Trump has long valued the ability of his team members to represent him on TV.
Tesla tech billionaire Elon Musk appears to be playing a central role as the burgeoning administration takes shape.
For one informal meeting at Trump’s nearby golf club at West Palm Beach, Musk held court at a table near a window looking out on the patio area with a yellow-striped awning.
Trump, dressed for golf, looked relaxed as he leaned back in a chair checking his phone.
To his left, granddaughter Kai, a rising media star of the Trump family, also looked at her phone. She has previously been seen posing with Musk, who she wrote was ‘achieving uncle status.’
Elon Musk holds court inside Mar-a-Lago in Sunday as Donald Trump and Kai Trump check their phones
Donald Trump dines with wife Melania and Elon Musk at Mar-a-Lago as he picks his cabinet
The Mar-a-Lago estate of President-elect Donald Trump, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida
Also at the table to Trump’s right was Wall Street billionaire financier Howard Lutnick, his transition co-chair who is organizing the handover from the Biden team.
Video from a nearby table showed Trump arriving for the ad hoc meeting and fellow diners congratulating him.
They clapped, with one saying, ‘Awesome’ and ‘Thank you sir,” and another yelling ‘Hooyah’.
Trump removed his white golf cap and accepted the accolades.
Reports emerging from Mar-a-Lago convey a return to the informal atmosphere that pervaded there when it became a nexus of power during the first Trump administration.
Trump was famously hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago in April 2017 when he gave the order to launch air strikes in Syria.
‘We had finished dinner. We’re now having dessert. And we had the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake that you’ve ever seen and President Xi was enjoying it,’ Trump told Fox Business News at the time.
‘And I was given the message from the generals that the ships are locked and loaded. What do you do?’ Trump said. ‘And we made a determination to do it, so the missiles were on the way.’
Now, most of Trump’s determinations have to do with personnel as he staffs his new administration.
That has included selecting South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to run the Homeland Security department, according to sources.
Trump’s granddaughter Kai calls Elon Musk ‘Uncle Elon’
Nikki Fuller, 56, sets up flags on her truck near the Mar-a-Lago estate of President-elect Donald Trump, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla
erial view of Mar-A-Lago Club Aerial views of Mar-A-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida, USA
He settled on the MAGA loyalist despite her disclosure in her autobiography about shooting her ‘untrainable’ puppy Cricket.
There were reports throughout Trump’s term that the president’s Florida clubs were not secure facilities.
A Chinese national was held Friday after police said he tried to enter Mar-a-Lago despite a stay-away order.
With top administration jobs being doled out and thousands in the offing, other operators are finding it useful to be near the action.
‘Someone came up to me last night [at Mar-a-Lago] and said they were up to be press secretary,’ a source close to Trump told CNN. ‘I have never seen this person in my life.’
People are also trying to latch on to club members to get in on the action. The club hiked its membership fee to $1 million in August for its latest batch of four memberships – up from $700,000.
People who are members of other Trump properties can also show up through reciprocity agreements, and have been reaching out to the club manager.
Also at Trump’s table recently was Florida financial advisor Steven Snowden, whose Instagram features golf course pictures with Trump and an image of Trump signing MAGA hats.
There is a Wall Private Wealth conference going on at the club as Trump makes his cabinet decisions.
Another man at Trump’s table has been identified as the general manager of Trump’s Palm Beach golf club.
A child plays in the water near the Mar-a-Lago estate of President-elect Donald Trump, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla
A robot dog patrols inside Mar-a-Lago, the residence of US president-elect Donald Trump
Trump had to endure multiple headaches from his cabinet selections during his first term, with many resigning or being forced out amid controversies ranging from private jet use to spending on office decorations.
Behind the scenes there are echoes of Trump’s first transition, where Trump hosted a series of notables at his Trump Tower office, from elected officials to rapper Kanye West.