WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington’s hottest new club has everything — Cabinet secretaries, a new stone patio, food from the White House kitchen and even a playlist curated by President Donald Trump.
But good luck getting a spot on the guest list. So far, only some of the president’s political allies, business executives and administration officials have been invited.
In Trump’s remake of the White House, the Rose Garden is now the Rose Garden Club, with the iconic lawn outside the Oval Office transformed into a taxpayer-supported imitation of the patio at Mar-a-Lago, the president’s private Florida resort.
Trump debuted the name during his first formal dinner there this month and has included it on his official public schedule, too. He’s set to host another event on Wednesday evening.
Presidents have always used invitations to the White House as a prestigious reward for friends and supporters, but Trump’s rebranding of an iconic area of the People’s House is unprecedented. It’s a fresh example of how the billionaire Republican is replicating the gilded and cloistered bubble of his private life inside the confines of the most famous government housing in the country.
Trump has long understood the allure of exclusive spaces
In his first term, Trump had an eponymous hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue a few blocks away from the White House and would go there often for dinner. But the Trump family sold the property during President Joe Biden’s administration, leaving him without a uniquely Trump establishment in the city in his second term.
Now he doesn’t need to go anywhere to enter his comfort zone and, in fact, has been spending less time at his home on his golf course in central New Jersey than he did in the first year of his first term.
To make the Rose Garden his own, Trump paved over the grass and set out tables and chairs, complete with yellow-and-white striped umbrellas that resemble the ones at Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida. He also installed a speaker system to play his favorite tunes as he does in Florida.
The project cost about $2 million and was paid for by the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit that works with the National Park Service.
The events on the new White House patio so far have been official in nature and are part of the long tradition of presidential entertaining at the Executive Mansion, with military social aides on hand to escort guests and the kitchen staff tasked to whip up the sustenance.
Trump, who rose to fame as a New York real estate executive, also ran casinos and hotels, and he still loves playing host. He frequently flatters his guests as brilliant and beautiful and relishes the ability to gather the country’s most powerful people.
So who pays for them?
All presidents invite family members and friends, lawmakers and political allies, donors and business leaders and others to the White House for reasons that range from bill signings and policy announcements to picnics and lavish state dinners.
Trump is expected to entertain on the white marble patio, in the shadow of the Washington Monument, as often as he can, the White House said.
Taxpayers pick up the tab for some of the social events hosted by a president, like the gathering for Republican lawmakers. Congress gives the White House money to pay for events like these since the Executive Mansion is also the president’s home.
Events of a more personal nature, like a birthday party or the funeral service Trump held at the White House in 2020 for his younger brother, Robert, would have to be paid for by the president since it is not considered government, or the people’s, business.
Tech titans lose out to GOP lawmakers for club’s opening
The official debut of the Rose Garden Club was supposed to be with tech titans such as Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Google’s Sundar Pichai and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella. However, rain forced Trump to move the Sept. 4 event indoors to the ornate State Dining Room.
The honor of being first instead went to Republican lawmakers, who gathered around two dozen tables under a clear night sky on Sept. 5.
Holding a microphone, Trump welcomed his guests by saying “you are the first ones in this great place.” He described it as “a club” for “people that can bring peace and success to our country.”
Table settings featured white tablecloths and yellow roses, plus a place card that said, “The Rose Garden Club at the White House.”
Dinner started with a Rose Garden Salad that included tomatoes and iceberg lettuce, followed by steak or chicken, or pasta primavera for vegetarians. Chocolate cake was dessert.
Trump sat at a corner table with House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas and Sen. Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania. Other lawmakers circulated by Trump’s table for photos with the president. Some were posted online.
“It was a honor to be there,” wrote Rep. John McGuire of Virginia.
