Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s resort in Palm Beach, Fla., has become the President-elect’s haven during his transition to the White House, writes Maggie Haberman in The New York Times.
The president-elect on Saturday rang in the New Year by holding a swanky party at Mar-a-Lago, complete with flowers and chandeliers draped from the ceiling, dancing until 1 a.m., a gold-laced white dinner menu and celebrities Sylvester Stallone and Fabio in attendance. Trump, it seems, was in his element.
And that has been the case for the most part at his resort.
The president-elect is "seeking the pre-election Donald Trump: totally at ease, very positive, very gregarious," said Chris Ruddy, the CEO of Newsmax Media who was at the event and who has in the past introduced Trump to news figures, lawmakers and contributors.
"Mar-a-Lago is an environment he can control," said historian Douglas Brinkley, who last week lunched with Ruddy at the resort. "I watched him hold court — he was so comfortable in his own skin, and so relaxed."
The site in Palm Beach is currently Trump's spot for transition meetings and, a place he's been spending his time for the last two weeks. Previously, he was in New York at Trump Tower. When he's at Mar-a-Lago, the change in his demeanor is noticeable, writes Haberman.
"His contentious Twitter posts belie his relative calm when he is at Mar-a-Lago compared with when he is isolated inside Trump Tower," Haberman writes. "Mr. Trump’s combative public persona — often on display during his campaign — mostly dissolves behind the carved-stone walls of his castle."
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