Mar-a-Lago billed the White House $1,000 for top-shelf liquor that government aides reportedly served themselves
While President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping enjoyed a steak dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, Secret Service agents and White House aides were reportedly having an extravaganza of their own.
After Trump and Xi's dinner in April 2017, then-White House Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin and then-Chief Strategist Stephen Bannon went into Mar-a-Lago's Library Bar with a group of advisers and told the bartender to leave so they could "speak confidentially," an email from a Mar-a-Lago staffer shows. "Secret Service did not allow the bartender to enter the room again," and "the group served themselves," the emails — obtained by ProPublica and WNYC — continue.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The State Department refused to pay the hefty tab, so the White House ended up covering it, presumably with taxpayer money, ProPublica reports. The White House didn't respond to a request for comment or say if it asked any partakers to split the bill. Read more at ProPublica or listen to WNYC's Trump, Inc. podcast episode on the subject here.
-
Buddhist monks’ US walk for peaceUnder the Radar Crowds have turned out on the roads from California to Washington and ‘millions are finding hope in their journey’
-
American universities are losing ground to their foreign counterpartsThe Explainer While Harvard is still near the top, other colleges have slipped
-
How to navigate dating apps to find ‘the one’The Week Recommends Put an end to endless swiping and make real romantic connections
-
Judge rejects California’s ICE mask ban, OKs ID lawSpeed Read Federal law enforcement agents can wear masks but must display clear identification
-
Lawmakers say Epstein files implicate 6 more menSpeed Read The Trump department apparently blacked out the names of several people who should have been identified
-
Japan’s Takaichi cements power with snap election winSpeed Read President Donald Trump congratulated the conservative prime minister
-
Trump sues IRS for $10B over tax record leaksSpeed Read The president is claiming ‘reputational and financial harm’ from leaks of his tax information between 2018 and 2020
-
Trump, Senate Democrats reach DHS funding dealSpeed Read The deal will fund most of the government through September and the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks
-
Fed holds rates steady, bucking Trump pressureSpeed Read The Federal Reserve voted to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged
-
Judge slams ICE violations amid growing backlashSpeed Read ‘ICE is not a law unto itself,’ said a federal judge after the agency violated at least 96 court orders
-
Rep. Ilhan Omar attacked with unknown liquidSpeed Read This ‘small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work’
