Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Finds New Revenue Stream in Far-Right Events
Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
While the charity galas that once dominated Mar-a-Lago’s winter season have all but vanished, the club owned by former President Donald Trump is making more money than ever by hosting events that attract the conspiracy-theorizing and hard-right segments of the MAGA universe. The New York Times reported on the rightward shift in Mar-a-Lago’s events calendar and the resulting profits, per Mediaite.
Evidence in the fraud lawsuit brought against the Trump Organization by New York Attorney General Letitia James indicated that Mar-a-Lago made $22 million in net profit in 2022. The club, where Trump spends most of his time and where conservatives gather to curry favor with him, has seen its profits more than double compared to the rest of his clubs, according to The New Republic.
Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club raised its initiation fee from $100,000 in 2016 to $600,000 in 2022. With around 500 members, this increase translates to nearly $12 million—virtually free money for Trump. The Times highlights that before Trump entered politics, Mar-a-Lago was primarily a venue for lavish charity galas with minimal political activities. During the 2014–2015 season, The Times recorded 52 fundraiser events at Mar-a-Lago, with only one being political.
After Trump’s controversial remarks in 2017 regarding the neo-Nazis and white supremacists at the Unite the Right demonstration, many apolitical charities distanced themselves from Mar-a-Lago. These have since been replaced by far-right gatherings. One notable event is an annual gathering organized by Turning Point USA, a conservative organization promoting Christian nationalism on college campuses, which began hosting at Mar-a-Lago in 2018.
Since Trump left office, The Times identified 130 individuals who have attended three or more Mar-a-Lago parties, many of them election deniers and Capitol rioters. Among these attendees are 44 Republican candidates for office, state officials, and members of Congress, with 34 receiving Trump’s coveted endorsement.
“MAGA is a movement, and Mar-a-Lago is its epicenter,” the report noted. As the event schedule has changed, so has the membership composition, with Trump’s detractors leaving and his ardent supporters filling the void. The Times also lists a rogues’ gallery of MAGA faithful frequenting the club, including Dinesh D’Souza, Laura Loomer, Jack Posobiec, Rudy Giuliani, Roger Stone, Seb Gorka, Lara Logan, Charlie Kirk, and more.
Despite this, Trump has attempted to distance politics from the Florida estate. “We don’t do too many of these things at Mar-a-Lago,” Trump claimed at a March 2022 fundraiser. “I don’t want to make it a totally political place,” he added.
