Trump plots future – and revenge – from sunny Florida left

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He usually spends the morning at his nearby golf course, making and receiving calls from a golf cart that doubles as his mobile and self-driving office. The many trips to the links in recent weeks have served to achieve a long-promised goal, says someone who recently spent time with him: Donald Trump claims he has increased his drive by 20 meters, a new favorite of golf partners. or someone who wants to listen.

Eighteen holes later, he leaves his Trump International Golf Club and returns to Mar-a-Lago, where he retires in his quarters to his own private living quarters, separate from his wife’s, and considers two main questions: Who’s with him? And who is against him?

“Once 2022 gets into high gear, expect Don (Trump Jr.) to be an extremely active presence on the campaign trail,” one person associated with Trump Jr. said. collaborates on CNN, confirming not only the younger Trump’s preference for political struggles, but that of the former president as well.

Donald Trump’s influence on the election is becoming more apparent by the day. On Tuesday, former Senator David Perdue announced that he will not be launching a campaign, although he had very recently submitted documents to do so. The decision follows on the heels of Perdue’s recent visit to Palm Beach, where he played golf with Trump, says a person familiar with the Georgia Republican’s schedule.

According to The Washington Post, Trump held a court with Ronna McDaniel, chairman of the Republican National Committee on Tuesday night. The quest, those familiar with the visits and appeals of various Republican politicians say, is to find out where the former president’s head is in the party’s future, and whether he is inclined to be a particular person. to help or to resist.

“We’ve seen this for years now – Trumpian cheers more like the mob ‘nice little things you have here,'” said Doug Heye, a longtime Republican strategist and consultant who previously worked in senior communications roles for leadership on Capitol Hill. The problem for these candidates who are moving forward is that despite always struggling to score points, Donald Trump is not giving points, just taking them away. One by one.”

Family dynamics in motion

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner move from DC to rent a luxury condo in Miami
At Mar-a-Lago, the family is closing ranks around the former president and his plans, but the leader of next-generation Trump politics is not Ivanka Trump, long considered heiress to her father’s domain, or whether it be real estate or political. She has been the subject of Trump’s effusive remarks: In 2019, in the same breath, he called Ivanka Trump to be both the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and the head of the World Bank, and in an interview with The Atlantic he said she would be “Very hard to beat” if she were to become president herself. But apparently Ivanka Trump not only has no interest in politics at the moment, three people close to her tell CNN, she has also surpassed in popularity with the grassroots. from Trump by her older brother.

In 2019, it was clear that Trump Jr. the raging Republican hype man was what the base couldn’t live without. Trump Jr. not only was in high demand for gigs and events, but he also filled rooms, spewed conspiracy theories on social media, freewheeled with his attacks on Democrats, so-called RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) and anyone who didn’t agree with the theories and Trump’s policies – truthful or no.

Ivanka Trump, now nestled in an expensive oceanfront condominium in Miami while a new mansion is being built nearby on a $ 30 million lot purchased late last year, wants “nothing to do with politics,” a friend said. from her about her current state of mind. .

Instead, she’s “ settling down her family, and that’s her only focus, ” the girlfriend said.

Trump has been to Mar-a-Lago to visit her father since moving to Florida, says another person familiar with her comings and goings but her interest in discussing her father’s next move in the White House is nil. Trump’s five years on the campaign and in the White House “were many,” her friend told CNN, and talking about a political future is verboten. Paparazzi have been snapping photos of Trump for the past few weeks, usually lounging on the beach next to her new home. One day she was seen reading “The Book of Joy” by the Dalai Lama.

But the absence of interest in political involvement, if understandable, paves the way for her brother to shine even brighter in his father’s job – even if he’s not the favorite child. (In a 2019 interview, Trump said of his eldest son, “Don likes politics; it’s actually very good.”)

Trump Jr. and his girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, have served as highly effective surrogates for his father for nearly three years, about as long as the couple is a couple, and they show no signs of slowing down. Next week, the pair are hosting a high dollar meet-and-greet fundraiser in Mar-a-Lago, for South Dakota’s Republican Governor Kristi Noem, a person with knowledge of the event, told CNN.

Call stands for reelection in 2022, and the $ 1,000 per person event will technically be Trump and Guilfoyle’s first official foray into the election cycle. The party’s VIP experience, according to the celebrity, includes participation in a roundtable with Noem, Trump and Guilfoyle, as well as a photo – the price of the upgraded face-time is $ 4,000 per person. No word on whether the former president will appear, but Noem is a friend – according to a report from the New York Times, she once gave the then president a four-foot-tall replica of Miount Rushmore with his face.

Sunshine State headquarters

Trump speaks at CPAC in first public appearance since leaving the White House, while Pence declines the invitation

Like his sister, Ivanka Trump, and half-sister, Tiffany Trump, who also recently moved to Miami, Trump Jr. plans to make the Sunshine State its permanent residence. Two people with knowledge of the situation said he plans to move closer to his ex-wife, Vanessa Trump, and the couple’s five children.

Vanessa Trump spends much of the year in Jupiter, Florida, where her ex-husband looks at an $ 11 million waterfront mansion in the city’s exclusive Admiral’s Cove development. A person familiar with Trump Jr.’s businesses would not confirm the purchase of the home, which is under contract pending sale, according to the property data, and a representative of the real estate company handling the sale would not comment on CNN about speculation Trump is the buyer.

But the commitment to Florida, an enthusiastically Trump-friendly state the former president won last November, indicates the Trumps are not bound by New York City as their centerpiece. In addition, it is much more pleasant for Trump to receive his visitors at Mar-a-Lago, which has a built-in audience of members, many of whom are also sycophants.

One person familiar with Trump’s activities at Mar-a-Lago says he is increasingly acting as CEO of the club, involved in operations, renovations and membership. For a time, his Palm Beach neighbors disdained that Trump would live just steps away from their multimillion-dollar mansions – a disturbance they no longer wanted to endure after the last four years of security and security challenges. privacy.

“I really don’t think most Palm Beachers think about Trump anymore. He really never leaves his two clubs,” said Laurence Leamer, a part-time Palm Beach resident and author of two tell-alls about the area, “Madness Under the Royal Palms “and” Mar-a-Lago: Inside the Gates of Power at Donald Trump’s Presidential Palace. “

Trump is a habit, which makes it all the easier for those who want to find him, seek his blessing or beg forgiveness for turning their backs, a practice that Heye believes will only increase in the coming months.

“For many, the allegiance never ends. But part of Trump’s bet when his campaign got serious was that the party would bow to him, he wouldn’t bow to the party.

This story has been updated.

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