He began a decade that began crowning Bret Michaels as a celebrity apprentice and ended with a new risk of presiding over the conflict on both continents. The already well-known dichotomy between Trump, the famous billionaire, and Trump, the commander-in-chief, is never more evident than in Mar-a-Lago, the South Florida estate, where guests play the jockey to meet the owner who also runs The country.
Appearing before a camera bank he had invited to his property, Trump warned Iran that the United States would quickly defeat it and considered House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a “highly overrated person.” as his wife looked.
“We’re going to anticipate a big year,” Trump said as he arrived at his party.
Trump appeared as intense tensions and dramatic violence threatened to force him to confront when the 2021 election year begins, a less-than-ideal position for a president who has vowed to end or resolve foreign conflicts.
And he trumpeted his handling of the situation in Iraq and compared it favorably to another incident of violence at a U.S. diplomatic post that occurred under his predecessor.
“This will not be a Benghazi. Benghazi should never have happened. This will never be a Benghazi,” he said, not explaining how protesters were able to breach security layers at the embassy in Baghdad to begin with. .
Trump said he did not want war with Iran. But if he gets to that, he said, “it wouldn’t last long.”
If the image of a tuxedo-clad president making belligerent threats to Iran as America’s “No. 1 corporate and private party band” tuned in close gave Trump or any of his aides a pause, was not shown. Trump, on the other hand, leaned into discord.
“That’s not a warning, it’s a threat. Happy New Year!” he wrote on Twitter a few hours before joining his guests at the party.
Trump spoke after a parade of leather and diamond guests, who each paid hundreds or thousands of dollars to join him, at the Donald J. Trump Ballroom, the Louis XIV-style ballroom that went erect and he baptized for himself after a prolonged battle. with Palm Beach in the 1990s.
The four adult children arrived with another major in the trailer. Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend, former Fox News presenter Kimberly Guilfoyle, declined to answer a question about Iran. Tiffany Trump only smiled when asked for the New Year’s resolution.
Ivanka Trump, in a red dress with bell sleeves, sneaked behind a wave of guests, including the leader of golden sequins of the women’s group “Trumpettes”, Toni Holt Kramer, who spoke into the microphones as Trump and her husband , senior White House adviser Jared Kushner passed quickly with his children.
Eric Trump was closer, and told reporters he believed the removal was “counterattacking” Democrats. It was a sentiment echoed by Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson, who predicted that Trump would overcome his current situation.
The most effusive of the red carpet was the president’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, who was in the middle of a mix of journalists and said he would be willing to testify at an indictment trial if asked.
“I would testify, give demonstrations, give lectures, give summaries, or do what I do best. I would try the case. I would love to try the case,” he said, removing his glasses, while other guests stopped to suck.
For Trump, his annual New Year’s Eve appearance was a return to tradition after he chose to call the White House in 2020 amid partial government unemployment. Guests at last year’s event described the frustration at having spent hundreds or thousands of dollars on tickets, only for the headliner to remain embedded in Washington by angrily tweeting against Democrats on its border wall.
He claimed to have spent much of the day on Tuesday receiving updates on the dire situation in Iraq, which he wasted when he thought the media reported that he had been playing golf.
“I didn’t!” he insisted, “I had meetings in various places, while closely following the situation of the U.S. embassy in Iraq, which I am still doing.”
Trump, however, traveled to his golf course wearing a white golf shirt Tuesday morning before returning to his resort an hour later. And as guests began to arrive at his New Year’s Eve gala, some in colorful Bentleys and Rolls-Royces, he tweeted about unrelated topics, such as his separate grudges with the California governor and French president.
He appeared in a more brilliant mood as he went down the red carpet to greet reporters. In recent years, only a small group of shared media was allowed at the Mar-a-Lago facilities, but this year Trump opened the event to everyone, securing a camera bank for his guests. they passed before entering the party.
Inside they found a stream of tree-sized white flowers and spheres surrounded by green with flickering lights inside. The menu was filled with Trump favorites like an iceberg wedge salad and baked Alaska.
After Trump had answered his last question and walked away, a reporter asked First Lady Melania Trump – who until now had remained silent and stoned – for the New Year’s resolution.
“Peace in the world,” he said, smiling widely.