Mar-a-Lago Club
Club · Palm Beach ·
Lavish private club with opulent decor, seafood buffet, and events
Lavish private club with opulent decor, seafood buffet, and events
"I observe that Mar-a-Lago, Marjorie Merriweather Post’s estate, has undergone what the piece describes as the 'Trumpification' of the property." - Lilah Ramzi
"In April 2017 the resort hosted a state visit by China’s president, during which the U.S. president and his advisers entertained the delegation with a surf-and-turf dinner and later private drinks. A subsequent bar tab for those drinks—54 items totaling $838, plus a 20% service charge and sales tax—came to $1,076, and was paid by the White House rather than the State Department. Reporting on the episode emphasizes how federal spending was funneled to the president’s private club, describes efforts to encourage government officials to dine there, and raises questions about potential violations of the Constitution’s domestic Emoluments Clause." - Jaya Saxena
"A Palm Beach resort owned by Donald Trump is being sued by former executive pastry chef Graham Randall, who alleges he was fired in retaliation after encouraging coworkers to report sexual harassment by two senior managers, food and beverage director Aaron Fuller and executive chef Bogdan Boerean. According to the suit, pastry chefs Chelsea Braswell and Elisa Cordon complained of inappropriate text messages and Randall directed them to human resources; an internal investigation resulted in written reprimands for Fuller and Boerean, who apologized and thanked Randall. Six months later Randall was terminated, ostensibly because of lost income from cancelled charity events, but he contends the firing was retaliatory and points to evidence the resort was financially healthy — including a Department of Labor request to hire foreign workers and a reported 25% revenue increase year-over-year in mid-2017. Randall previously filed charges with the EEOC and the Florida Commission on Human Relations and is seeking damages and reinstatement as executive pastry chef; the suit notes the accused managers appear to remain employed." - Monica Burton
"Described in a new book by Laurence Leamer as the president’s beloved Palm Beach resort, this private club is said to have seen better days: service reportedly favors the few tables nearest the president while other members complain of poorly trained servers, having to beg for water, and a menu that repeats year after year. With only about 500 members, many who stayed quiet about the president previously have recently begun to voice criticisms, albeit in a restrained, Palm Beach manner." - Greg Morabito
"A Palm Beach, Florida country club and presidential residence filed paperwork with the Department of Labor to hire 61 foreign workers as temporary cooks and front-of-house servers under H-2 visas, invoking the temporary-worker program that permits employers to hire non-U.S. workers when they claim no qualified Americans are available — a move that contrasts with the owner's public rhetoric about prioritizing American labor." - Dana Hatic
