by: Evan Donovan
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PALM BEACH, Fla. (WFLA) — A new book about President Donald Trump’s club Mar-a-Lago takes readers behind the scenes at the exclusive Palm Beach club of the super-rich.
“The Grifter’s Club: Trump, Mar-a-Lago, and the Selling of the Presidency” takes viewers inside the club through interviews with staffers and members. But plenty of people have gotten into Mar-a-Lago without the book — and one of the authors says that’s part of the problem.
“This is the most concerning thing we uncovered,” said Nick Nehamas, investigative reporter with the Miami Herald and co-author of the book. “The security is nothing like you would see at the official White House in D.C. When the president is there, Secret Service is there. But their only job is to keep out guns and bombs and security threats. Who actually decides who gets into the club is Mar-a-Lago staff and members — and that’s why a membership is so valuable. That’s why the Trump Organization doubled the price to $200,000 and then raised it another $50,000.”
The book also reveals a side of the president you don’t often see on the campaign trail or at White House events — a softer side.
“What we learned in the book is how charming Trump can be,” Nehamas said. “In person, in his element, in his club, there are many Democratic members — people who would never vote for Trump — who consider him a friend. What you get from this book is a different side of the president. The side that really charms people and makes them feel heard and makes them feel like the center of attention. He has that charisma and that magnetism that a lot of great politicians have.”
Trump is not without his idiosyncrasies though, and the book explores many of them.
Like how he is a notorious germaphobe, or how he has an acute memory, particularly for things others might consider petty for a man of his wealth and stature.
Trump remembers everything. Once, at the end of a season, he had been displeased by the size of the shrimp served during his final meal at the club. Nearly six months later it was still bothering him. The first thing he did when he arrived in Florida for the start of the next season was to go down to the kitchen to follow up with the chef.
“Hey chef, you changed that shrimp, right?” he asked.
Who remembers stuff like that?, the chef wondered to himself.“The Grifter’s Club” p.72
“The Grifter’s Club” is available now in bookstores, online, and as an e-book.
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