Fireworks, fanfare, a rapper and a Ninja Turtle all part of the festivities as attendees shared inside looks at former President Donald Trump’s New Year’s Eve bash.
“We’re going to have a great 2024.”
Notable guests and absences marked the Palm Beach, Florida shindig held at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort residence Sunday night to kickoff what is expected to be an eventful year for the president. With the first votes of the Republican primary set to take place in the coming days, the onetime commander-in-chief spoke optimistically in spite of trying times.
On a personal note, Trump addressed the absence of former first lady Melania Trump after a performance of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA,” telling the crowd about her mother’s ailing health. “Hopefully she’ll be recovering,” he said of Amalijia Knavs who was at a hospital in Miami, “but she’s been very ill.”
LIVE FROM MAR A LAGO – PRES TRUMP. IT’S GOING TO BE A GREAT 2024.
FOLLOW FOR MORE pic.twitter.com/k55HspndNQ
— Futurist (@americasgreat) January 1, 2024
Pivoting to liven up the room, the president proceeded to jest with the attendees which included members of the exclusive club and otherwise.
Quipping that some had scalped their tickets for as much as $10,000, Trump said, “I know my members, they’re rich, but they’re cheap as hell…If they knew they got $10,000 they’d be out of here in two seconds, right? They’re scalping tickets. I see people I’ve never seen these people before, I tell you what.”
“But I do, I know most of the people in this room and you’re fantastic people and we are, again, we’re gonna have a fantastic year, we’re gonna have a great year. Our country has gone to hell and we’re gonna turn it around. We’re gonna turn it around pretty quickly,” he continued before remarking that most of his children were present, save for one who had gone skiing.
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Others who shared snaps of themselves or moments from the gala included political consultant Roger Stone, businessman Paolo Zampolli, and Fox News host Jeannine Pirro alongside Trump attorney Alina Habba.
Happy New Year from Mar-a-Lago pic.twitter.com/f3LFFeXIIV
— Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) January 1, 2024
Already started partying in Palm Beach w Alina Habba pic.twitter.com/6LSj5G2bYE
— Jeanine Pirro (@JudgeJeanine) December 31, 2023
New President Trump at New Year’s Eve Party, Mar-a-Lago. pic.twitter.com/4d51gTFwx2
— The TRUMP PAGE (@MichaelDeLauzon) January 1, 2024
Happy New Year at Mar-a-Lago pic.twitter.com/ptBdpJV6EM
— The TRUMP PAGE (@MichaelDeLauzon) January 1, 2024
The president was also seen watching the performance of repeat Mar-a-Lago entertainer Robert Van Winkle, better known by his stage name Vanilla Ice.
The rapper who had taken heat in the past for performing at Trump’s resort was joined on stage by a dancer dressed as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Michelangelo in a callback to the 1991 film “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze,” which featured Vanilla Ice in a cameo performing “Ninja Rap.”
Video from the evening showed Van Winkle performing his debut single “Ice Ice Baby” as Trump looked on from the crowd.
BOOM: Vanilla Ice rocking in the New Year at Mar a Lago..pic.twitter.com/P7DxgMZ0O6
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) January 1, 2024
New Year’s Eve Party at Mar-a-Lago is lit
— ALX (@alx) January 1, 2024
In closing his remarks with little more than two weeks to go before the Iowa caucus, Trump assured those in attendance, “We’re going to have a great 2024. We’re going to make America great again.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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