Wouldn't it be nice if every time you were in a bad mood, people sprung to try to cheer you up? For the super-rich like Donald Trump, this is what butlers are for — and at Trump's private club Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, that job falls to one Anthony Senecal.
Senecal, 74, has worked for Trump for 30 years, which naturally means he's privy to some of the GOP frontrunner's odder quirks. He also knows how to navigate his boss' blustery moods:
Mr. Senecal knows how to stroke [Trump's] ego and lift his spirits, like the time years ago he received an urgent warning from Mr. Trump's soon-to-land plane that the mogul was in a sour mood. Mr. Senecal quickly hired a bugler to play "Hail to the Chief" as Mr. Trump stepped out of his limousine to enter Mar-a-Lago. [The New York Times]
But when there isn't a prior warning, Senecal has another way to tell when Trump might not be his most pleasant:
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The next morning, before dawn and after about four hours' sleep, Mr. Trump would meet [Senecal] at the arched entrance of his private quarters to accept a bundle of newspapers including The New York Times, The Daily News, The New York Post, and the Palm Beach papers. Mr. Trump would emerge hours later, in khakis, a white golf shirt and baseball cap. If the cap was white, the staff noticed, the boss was in a good mood. If it was red, it was best to stay away. [The New York Times]
Trump's famous "Make America Great Again" cap naturally comes in both colors (in fact, they're the only colors it comes in other than black). However, fellow campaigners be warned — Trump often wears it red.
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