Reveling at Mar-a-Lago
It was the party of the year, for a certain kind of partier
It was an event the British tabloid The Sun described as “star studded”. Donald Trump’s election night party at his Florida golf club was the place to be on election night according to the gossip pages. Page Six reported on the rumoured attendance of his daughter Ivanka, described as a “43-year-old socialite”. Dana White, the head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, was also there. The Sun managed to get exclusive photos of Elon Musk with his son X riding atop his shoulders (yes, he named his son X. X, the everything kid.)
The event evoked memories of comedian John Mulaney’s routine where he describes Trump as being “like what a hobo imagines a rich man to be.” Tall buildings with his name on them, “fine golden hair”, and a TV show where he fires people. We could add to that, a big party with the MMA fighting CEO and the spaceship man who’s into dank memes. Maybe that one is less a hobo’s idea of opulent wealth and more the idea of a man who hasn’t emotionally matured beyond age 12- in other words, a sizable portion of Trump’s base.
While celebrity gossip writers might have been there, other media organisations were excluded; Politico, Axios, Puck, Voice of America and Mother Jones. According to the India based Business Standard, Politico was initially given access to the party but this revoked it when they reported that Trump's campaign field director was fired for being a white nationalist. Way to be a party pooper Politico.
The man in question, Luke Meyer, admitted he was the one behind the pseudonym Alberto Barbarossa on numerous white nationalist podcasts when journalist Amanda Moore presented him with the evidence. “I am glad you pieced these little clues together like an antifa Nancy Drew,” he told them in an email. He seemed unphased by the end of his field director role a week before the election. “Like the hydra, you can cut off my head and hold it up for the world to see, but two more will quietly appear and be working in the shadows,”. A bummer. Not the vibe they were going for at Mar-a-Lago.
Not ruining the mood was Brazilian lawmaker Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Eduardo posted a photo with Donald Trump Jr. to X (the social media site rather than the four year old) in praising the “good company.” While his father was banned from running for office until 2030 following a court ruling that he abused his presidential power, his brand of far-right politics remains influential in Brazil, and according to Catherine Osborn who writes Foreign Policy’s weekly Latin America brief, “leans heavily on Trump for strategic cues.”
British lawmaker Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform Party and MP for the Essex seat of Clacton had also made the trip to Florida for the party. He was excited. Excited about what Elon Musk being part of a future Trump administration could mean. “This is the sexy bit” he told The Guardian “Elon comes in and takes a knife to the deep state. Just like when he bought Twitter he sacked 80% of the staff,” he went on to say “There are going to be mass layoffs, whole departments closing and I’m hoping and praying that’s the blueprint for what we then do on our side of the pond”
While Farage is perhaps best known as a campaigner for Brexit, his admiration of Trump is an area where he can find commonality with political leaders on the continent. “In terms of political motivation, a Trump win will give a massive boost to the likes of Orbán, Le Pen and Meloni.” wrote Mark Shanahan, associate Professor of political Engagement at the University of Surrey, a week before the US election. “From the AFD in Germany to Reform in the UK via the FPÖ in Germany, the populist right will be emboldened in what’s already a fragile time for Europe’s liberal order.”
Indeed Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian strongman who for a decade now has been pursuing what he calls “illiberal democracy” was among the first foreign leaders to congratulate Trump on his election night success. “The biggest comeback in US political history! Congratulations to President @realDonaldTrump on his enormous win,” he wrote on X (again, not Musk’s offspring –- his other X, the one he spends more time with) “A much needed victory for the World!”
Giorgia Meloni, who leads what’s considered Italy’s first far-right government since Mussolini, offered her “most sincere congratulations” to Trump on X. (I’m out of X jokes, sorry.) Like Shanathan, Georgios Samaras, a lecturer in Public Policy at King's College London, sees a second Trump presidency influencing Europe.
“Trump’s rhetoric and policy agenda openly champion far-right ideologies, pushing for the normalisation of measures such as extreme immigration control, increased corporatism through figures like Elon Musk, and intensified attacks on LGBTQ rights. This trajectory reflects his broader agenda of cultural confrontation, with trans rights as one of the most polarising issues. This culture war, which finds frequent targets in LGBTQ and minority rights, resonates with authoritarian-leaning European leaders who often embrace similar values and political goals. It reveals a synchronisation of ideas across the Atlantic that goes beyond mere policy alignment and into a deeper ideological affinity rooted in reactionary values.”
The USA’s 2024 election, was watched intently around the world, and what we saw was the most gaudy expression of far-right ideology since insurrectionists in red MAGA hats and Qanon t-shirts stormed the capitol building in Washington DC with the aim of overturning the results of the 2020 election. There’s no need for that this time around, so maybe we’ve watched the biggest MAGA party event we’ll see for a while. When his victory became certain, busloads of people departed Mar-a-Lago for the Palm Beach County Convention Center, where a less exclusive election watch party was happening. Antonia Hitchens, covering the event for The New Yorker wrote that she realised the event had become a victory celebration when at 1:42 A.M local time a woman in a white romper and high heels crossed the velvet rope into the V.I.P section and projectile-vomited. Could there be a more apt metaphor for returning Trump to power than projectile-vomiting into the V.I.P area? From watching the election, I sincerely doubt it.