Tag: Mar-a-Lago

Graham to self-quarantine after Mar-a-Lago trip

The Hill logoSen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is self-quarantining after a trip to Mar-a-Lago where Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was also present. 

Graham, according to a statement from his office, “has no recollection of direct contact” with Bolsonaro, who is being monitored for the coronavirus, or his spokesman, who has tested positive.

“However, in an abundance of caution and upon the advice of his doctor, Senator Graham has decided to self-quarantine awaiting the results of a coronavirus test,” the statement from Graham’s office said.   Continue reading.

Second guest who was with Trump at Mar-a-Lago last weekend has tested positive

Washington Post logoA second person who visited President Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago estate last weekend has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to emails from Republican Party officials to other guests who were present.

The case means the president has been near two people who have since been diagnosed as infected. On Saturday, Trump dined and was photographed with a senior Brazilian official who later tested positive.

The latest diagnosis involves an individual who attended a Sunday luncheon hosted by Trump Victory, a committee that raises money for the Trump campaign and the Republican Party, according to an email from party officials. Trump delivered remarks at the event, which was attended by about 1,000 people. Continue reading.

Miami mayor tests positive after meeting with Brazilian government aide who also has coronavirus

Washington Post logoMiami Mayor Francis Suarez has tested positive for covid-19, he said in an interview with the Miami Herald Friday morning, days after attending an event with a Brazilian government aide who also has the novel coronavirus.

In a statement Suarez issued Friday morning, the mayor encouraged those who had close contact with him to isolate for 14 days and monitor their health for flu-like symptoms.

Suarez, along with the mayor of Miami-Dade and 21 Miami police officers, opted to self-quarantine after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s press secretary, Fabio Wajngarten, tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the Herald reported. Continue reading.

Bolsonaro aide tests positive for coronavirus days after Trump meeting

Axios logoBrazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s press secretary tested positive for coronavirus days after taking part in meetings with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago, Brazilian newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo reports and multiple American outlets have confirmed.

The latest: Bolsonaro is currently being monitored, according to Brazilian media. Fabio Wajngarten, the aide, was photographed with Trump on Saturday.

  • Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday that he’s “not concerned” about Wajngarten’s diagnosis.
  • Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) both said they will enter self-quarantine after being at Mar-a-Lago with the Brazilian delegation last weekend.

A far-right populist, Bolsonaro had dismissed the alarm around the virus as a “fantasy” spread by the media as recently as Wednesday. Continue reading.

Trump Weekends in Florida as Fear of the Coronavirus Rises

With the number of covid-19 cases in the United States having risen above three hundred, and the number of cases around the world now topping a hundred thousand, Donald Trump is spending the weekend hosting Jair Bolsonaro, the right-wing President of Brazil, at his private beach resort in Florida. On Friday night, Trump announced that Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, was leaving the position, and would be replaced by Mark Meadows, a conservative congressman from North Carolina who has been one of the President’s staunchest defenders on Capitol Hill. In other circumstances, the shakeup would be a major story. But, much to Trump’s chagrin, the spread of the coronavirus is increasingly dominating all other news.

Public concern about the spread of the coronavirus is rising, with officials from New York and other cities complaining about a chronic lack of test kits from the federal government. On Saturday, the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, said that the state had been running its own tests “around the clock.” He announced that the total of confirmed cases in the state had risen to seventy-six and declared a state of emergency.

Trump, meanwhile, evidently decided that the situation isn’t serious enough to keep him in Washington. From the beginning, he has sought to minimize the seriousness of the emerging epidemic, and he is still at it. That’s when he’s not praising himself for how he and the U.S. government have responded to the crisis or offering himself as an expert. During a remarkable press conference at the Atlanta headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on Friday, Trump mentioned an uncle who had taught science at M.I.T. and said, “I like this stuff. I really get it. People are surprised that I understand it. Every one of these doctors said, ‘How do you know so much about this?’ Maybe I have a natural ability. Maybe I should have done this instead of running for President.” Continue reading.

Secret Service has paid rates as high as $650 a night for rooms at Trump’s properties

Washington Post logoPresident Trump’s company charges the Secret Service for the rooms agents use while protecting him at his luxury properties — billing U.S. taxpayers at rates as high as $650 per night, according to federal records and people who have seen receipts.

Those charges, compiled here for the first time, show that Trump has an unprecedented — and largely hidden — business relationship with his own government. When Trump visits his clubs in Palm Beach, Fla., and Bedminster, N.J., the service needs space to post guards and store equipment.

Trump’s company says it charges only minimal fees. But Secret Service records do not show that. Continue reading.

Trump privately told donors new details about Soleimani airstrike at Mar-a-Lago fundraiser

Washington Post logoPresident Trump delivered a dramatic account of the airstrike that killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, joked that he doesn’t care if construction projects kill all the rattlesnakes and noted his indifference to the budget during a private dinner with deep-pocketed donors Friday night at Mar-a-Lago, according to audio files obtained by The Washington Post.

Trump, his tone subdued and conversational, explained his motivation for attacking Soleimani and recounted listening to an anonymous military official countdown to the Jan. 3 strike.

The president said nothing about an “imminent attack” on U.S. interests or threats to four U.S. embassies as he previously has to justify the unilateral military strike that escalated tensions in the region and opened debate on presidential war powers. Continue reading.

WATCH: Rudy Giuliani loses it at Mar-A-Lago over impeachment question

AlterNet logoRudy Giuliani wants to turn President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial into a prosecution case against Joe Biden.

The president’s personal attorney told reporters at a New Year’s Eve party at Mar-A-Lago that he would like to do far more than simply testify at the Senate impeachment trial.

“I would testify, I would do demonstrations,” Giuliani said. “I’d give lectures, I’d give summations. Or, I’d do what I do best, I’d try the case. I’d love to try the case.” Continue reading

Trump’s company cancels gala planned by anti-Muslim group at Mar-a-Lago

Washington Post logoAn anti-Muslim group that had been planning a gala at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida said Monday that the Trump Organization had abruptly canceled the event.

The group, ACT for America, issued a statement saying Trump’s company had “caved to the Left’s bullying tactics” in canceling its Nov. 7 dinner gala. After Florida newspapers reported on the planned gala last weekend, the event was condemned by groups including the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

“Regrettably, the Trump attorneys in New York caved to the Left’s bullying tactics and made a decision to cancel our event within hours,” ACT said in a statement posted to Twitter.

View the complete October 7 article by David A. Fahrenthold on The Washington Post website here.

Prosecutors: Army official at Mar-a-Lago uploaded suspected child porn to Russian website

A military official formerly in charge of all White House communications for the U.S. Army at Mar-a-Lago was sentenced to three years of probation on Friday after he made false statements to a federal agent during a child pornography investigation.

Richard Ciccarella — a non-commissioned officer who told federal agents he was in charge of communications at President Donald Trump’s Palm Beach resort — became a target of an investigation after he uploaded photos of a young girl to a seedy Russian website between 2017 and 2018, according to court documents.

Ciccarella used the username RICH25N to upload suspicious photographs and folders to the website iMGSRC.RU between November 2017 and February 2018, according to court documents.

View the complete September 27 article by Martin Vassolo and Nicholas Nehamas on The Miami Herald website here.