President Trump is reportedly upset that the government shut down has thwarted plans for his plush, $100,000-a-ticket Mar-a-Lago party that was to celebrate his first year in office.
As the government stalled late on Friday night, Trump’s intentions to fly to Florida ahead of the fundraising event halted.
On Saturday, as the president fumed on Twitter about Democrats’ refusing to accept his plans for DACA and Immigration, the party – or at least his attendance at it – seemed all the more unlikely.
Sources told The Daily Beast the shrinking likelihood that he would be able to attend the do was upsetting Trump who, in recent weeks, had been referring to the event as ‘my party’.
President Donald Trump (seen above on Friday in Washington DC) is upset that the government shutdown has thwarted his plans for a one-year-in-office party at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night
The event at Mar-a-Lago (shown above in a file photo) was to celebrate the president’s first year in office and raise money for the RNC
He said it would be a ‘shame’ if any government business got in the way of it, they claimed, and was excited to mingle with his deep-pocketed guests.
Tickets for the swanky event were a cool $100,000. That paid for one couple to have dinner and to have their photograph taken with the president.
The top tier ticket, which cost $250,000, allowed a couple to take part in a roundtable discussion with him.
The event’s hosts are casino mogul Steve Wynn and RNC chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel.
All of the proceeds from ticket sales were to go to the Trump Victory Fund, a fundraising committee which collects money for Trump’s personal campaign, the RNC and Republican state committees across the country.
White House officials have insisted that the president will not abandon Washington until a deal is reached.
On Friday, he held talks with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in the study next to the Oval Office where the pair tried to come to an agreement over cheeseburgers, The New York Times reported on Friday.
President Trump fumed about the shutdown on Twitter on Saturday morning. He said it was a ‘nice present’ from the Democrats to mark his first year in office
They were ultimately unsuccessful and, at midnight on Saturday, the government officially shut down.
Trump fumed about the development on Twitter and said it was caused by Democrats who he said were putting illegal immigrants ahead of US citizens.
He pointed to his one-year anniversary in office and said the shutdown was a ‘nice present’ from Democrats.
It is not clear whether or not the Mar-a-Lago party will go ahead in his absence or if ticket holders who forked out to have their picture taken with him will be refunded if he is a no show.
On Friday, when asked by DailyMail.com if Trump is expected to fly to Florida White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said, ‘No. I don’t. In fact, I think the president’s been very clear…He’s not leaving until this is finished.’
Trump also offered average joes the opportunity to attend the event that’s being put on by his campaign and the Republican National Committee.
The entire Trump family will be there, an email from the president’s middle son, Eric, that solicited donations for the Trump Make America Great Again Committee said.
A January 13 message, from the Trump Organization executive stated: ‘We’re excited to have one of President Trump’s loyal supporters join us for dinner at the best spot in Florida with my father.
‘All you have to do to is contribute $1 here before January 17.’
Earlier this week, Eric Trump and his wife Lara entertained female guests at Mar-a-Lago for the first celebratory event of the week – an America-themed bash where guests were given the famous Trump wedge of iceberg lettuce and cheeseburger sliders.
Official White House guidance had Trump departing Washington late this afternoon for Florida.
The White House said earlier Friday that the Capitol Hill meltdown would be delaying his departure until at least Saturday.
The federal government shut down at the stroke of midnight Friday – halting all but the most essential operations and marring the one-year anniversary of Trump’s inauguration in a striking display of Washington dysfunction.
Senate republicans fell far short of passing a procedural motion that would have kept the federal government funded, causing the fourth government shutdown in a quarter century.
Five Democrats who represent Trump-country red states crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans, but the GOP lost four of its own, erasing any doubts about the state of partisan bickering in the US Capitol.
President Trump has spent many a weekend in Palm Beach since he took office a year ago on Jan. 20, 17. According to NBC’s Trump tracker, the billionaire has spent precisely 49 of the last 364 days at the Florida property.