‘I came as Donald Trump’: The US president hosts a luxury Halloween at Mar-a-Lago
Tyler Pager
AI generated
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president → come → Lago
Women wore sequined leotards and elaborate headdresses, and one couple flocked around in bright-feathered costumes of jungle birds.
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couple → wear → birds
Then US President Donald Trump arrived.
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Trump → arrive → ?
“I came as Donald Trump,” he said, outfitted in his standard red tie and navy suit.
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he → come → tie
“I didn’t have time to get.
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I → have → time
People spent a lot of time and money.
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People → spend → time
They spent nine hours getting ready.
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They → spend → hours
I had 10 minutes, so I came as Donald Trump.”
Such was the scene on the night of Oct 31, when hundreds gathered in the ballroom at Mar-a-Lago to celebrate Halloween with the president.
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hundreds → have → president
Attendees posted photos on social media that showed a pen at the club with a zebra and a miniature pony.
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that → post → zebra
And yet even as they brace for potential losses on Nov 3, Trump, whose approval rating is near historic lows, was thrilled to be entertaining.
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rating → brace → lows
“Look at all my rich members,” he told reporters.
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he → look → reporters
“They spent all day getting ready.
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They → spend → ?
He added: “These are the biggest guys on Wall Street.”
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These → add → Street
It was a striking tone, with polls showing voters souring even more on Trump’s handling of the economy.
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voters → show → economy
One recent poll from The New York Times and Siena University found that a majority of voters blame Trump for the decline: 69% disapprove of his handling of the cost of living, 65% disapprove of the war in Iran, and nearly 75% disapprove of the high price of gas and diesel.
But for Trump, Mar-a-Lago is always a stage for his brand of gilded festivity.
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Lago → find → festivity
Attorney-General Todd Blanche, who travelled with Trump on Air Force One on Oct 30, told reporters that he planned to wear an astronaut suit to the party.
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he → travel → party
(On Nov 1, a spokesperson for Blanche said he neither attended the party nor intended to.)
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he → say → party
Vice-President J.D. Vance was back in Washington, dressed as Albus Dumbledore as part of a family Harry Potter set of costumes.
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Vance → dress → costumes
Trump entered the ballroom to fanfare and gabbed with reporters on the dance floor before mingling with his “rich friends,” as he kept calling them.
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he → enter → them
He castigated Alina Habba Mildon, his former personal lawyer, over a US$50 million (S$63.92 million) deal she secured for work with a billionaire Venezuelan family seeking a pardon from the president.
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she → castigate → president
He weighed in on the feud between representative Haley Stevens of Michigan and Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Senate.
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He → weigh → Senate
And he addressed, for the first time, a report in the Times that Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia and an adviser to Trump, was the target of a Chinese spy plot.
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Huang → address → plot
“I have a lot of respect for him.
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I → have → him
I like him.
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I → like → him
We hope everything’s OK,” he said.
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he → hope → ?
“We’ll check it out.
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We → check → it
We’re going to check it out very closely.”
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We → go → it
When asked if Huang would stay on as a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, Trump said he “would like to say yes.”
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he → ask → Science
“I mean, unless we find out something to the contrary,” he said.
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he → mean → contrary
“I’ve always found Jensen Huang to be very aboveboard.
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Huang → find → ?
But you know, you’re dealing in a very complex issue, I will say.”
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I → know → issue
The Halloween party landed at a complicated moment for the president.
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party → land → president
He has spent much of the last month crisscrossing the country holding rallies for Republican candidates, many of them even or lagging in the polls.
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many → spend → polls
Some have sought to distance themselves from the president’s unpopular policies.
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Some → seek → policies
Trump was originally scheduled to travel to Kansas on Oct 31 for a rally, then to Iowa on Nov 1.
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Trump → schedule → Nov
But on Oct 29, both were cancelled.
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both → cancel → Oct
A day later, after the president chewed out a reporter for asking why the first rally was cancelled, the events were back on, but rescheduled as a doubleheader on Nov 1.
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events → chew → Nov
Before the Halloween bash, Trump spent much of the day at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, and participating in virtual rallies for Republican candidates.
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Trump → spend → candidates
“I feel very good,” the president told reporters, with the feathered guests gawking at him.
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guests → feel → him
“I mean, I feel like we’re doing well.
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we → mean → ?
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
