According to one source with insider knowledge, scandal-plagued former President Donald Trump is so deeply fond of his Palm Beach Mar-a-Lago golf resort, social club, and post-White House personal home because it’s the only place left he can go where people actually love and admire him instead of ruthlessly making fun of him.
The rather amusing revelation came from Staten Island MAGA artist Scott Lobaido who’s known for painting exaggeratingly flattering portraits of the now-former president and first made headlines back in 2016 when someone set fire to his pro-Trump sign. Lobaido now spends his time crafting hagiographic portraits of the ex-president and his family that were recently displayed throughout Donald’s Mar-a-Lago resort for an event to specifically honor the MAGA artist, according to the Washington Post.
WaPo broke reporting on insider information from Lobaido, who says that Trump struggles to find people who are nice to him outside of his Palm Beach compound.
“Outside the compound walls, Lobaido said, Trump is often ‘ridiculed wherever he goes,'” WaPo reports. “But Mar-a-Lago is his ‘castle’ and his ‘comfort zone’ and a place to be surrounded by ‘like-minded people.'”
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Ben Terris and Josh Dawsey with the Post use less-than-flattering descriptors for those “like-minded people” in a deep dive look into what they have dubbed Donald Trump’s “happy place.”
“As guests enjoy lamb lollipops, enormous lobsters, and ‘Mr. President’s Wedge Salad,’ they partake in an ongoing game that rivals those played on the golf course: sucking up,” Terris and Dawsey blister.
“In the eyes of his adoring fans at Mar-a-Lago, he can do no wrong. There is often a swarm of well-wishers, suck-ups, and freelance advisers who — much to the chagrin of his actual advisers — often find a way to get his ear.”
In recent years, Americans have watched in collective horror as the Mar-a-Lago guest list grew more and more concerning, coming to include the likes of white nationalist Nick Fuentes, Hungary’s authoritarian leader Victor Orbán; conspiracy theorist and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, and Roseanne Barr.
Trump’s former press secretary Stephanie Grisham spoke with the Post and explained, “The place had something of a porous border, in that members were allowed to bring guests of their choosing. In practice, this could mean never knowing whether the dining rooms were filled with foreign nationals, kooks or bad actors.”
She went on to confirm that these problematic Mar-a-Lago guests created serious issues, even during Trump’s presidential term.
“Because Trump liked to dine out in the open, there were times in which it felt like anyone inside the walls of Mar-a-Lago could have unfettered access to the commander-in-chief,” the report reads.
“Trump has long enjoyed bringing honored guests to his club,” they write, “just as long as he gets to be the most honored among them.”
Read the blistering full piece from the Washington Post here.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
