Donald Trump has set a million-dollar price tag for the ability to whisper in his ear should he win back the presidency in November, prompting ethics watchdogs to worry that the Republican nominee is selling access and political influence for personal gain.
Trump is making available four new and rarely available memberships at his exclusive Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where he mingled freely with unvetted patrons during his first term of office and accepted policy advice from guests scrawled on cocktail napkins.
The $1m cost of each membership, which will open for applications in October, exactly one month before the presidential election, also represents a 43% hike from the current initiation fee of $700,000 – an eye-popping increase given the former president has railed against Joe Biden for what he sees as out of control inflation.
The revelation came in a wide-ranging interview with Trump published by Bloomberg last month, in which Bernd Lembcke, Mar-a-Lago’s long-time manager, justified the price rise by claiming the opulent waterfront Palm Beach club was “not desperate” for would-be members.
“In October we’re going up to $1m because we have four memberships to sell,” he said, noting the club was ramping up for 30th anniversary celebrations. Trump quickly interjected to try to return the interview to other subjects.
Ethics observers say the move suggests that Trump is courting a new clique of wealthy donors eager to pay for access, while tapping a lucrative, fresh income stream to alleviate his substantial legal bills and settlement obligations.
“Trump is the ultimate grifter,” said Robert Weissman, president of the Washington DC-based pro-transparency group Public Citizen.
“It’s possible some people just want to hobnob with a president and be around him, but it was explicit in his first presidency that it was an opportunity to tell him what you thought, and also to seek favor.
“So of course, the people who are most interested in this are going to look at it as a really sound investment. Why not pay a million dollars and talk to the president?”
Weissman pointed to several episodes during Trump’s term in which Mar-a-Lago members received plum appointments.
They include Lana Marks, the luxury handbag designer, who became US ambassador to South Africa with no diplomatic training or experience; Adrian Zuckerman, a lawyer and Trump’s golfing buddy who served the same role in Romania; and David Cornstein, the jewelry magnate, a longstanding Trump friend sent to Hungary as ambassador to woo strongman prime minister Viktor Orbán.
The 500-member Mar-a-Lago roster is traditionally kept secret, but in 2019 USA Today identified eight past or present members of Trump’s clubs picked for roles in his administration.
“The membership fee was said to be $200,000 at the start of his presidency, and if that’s correct it’s obviously supply and demand,” Weissman said.
“Now, are people really, suddenly interested in this spectacular club in Florida in a way they just weren’t in 2016, because the word got out? Or another theory is it’s worth five times what it was because you might get a chance to give Trump some advice, or apparently get an ambassadorship.
“There are profound and systemic issues regarding ethics, and big money, and access for the rich, but Trump is in a category by himself. To call this an ethics issues sort of underplays it. There’s Trump, and then there’s everything else.”
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The 20-acre Mar-a-Lago resort, which Trump bought in 1985 from the estate of the late cereal heiress and philanthropist Marjorie Merriweather Post, was the site of a succession of security incidents and controversies during and after his presidency.
Perhaps most notably, its 1927 mansion was where he stored boxes of classified documents taken from the White House, which became the subject of a since-dismissed lawsuit. Special prosecutor Jack Smith has appealed the ruling.
The Trump Organization, the umbrella body for Trump’s portfolio of resorts and golf clubs, did not respond to a request for comment.
But other observers say Trump is likely to pocket the $4m he is set to raise from hawking the memberships.
“This is capitalism, and he is taking full advantage of a spike in interest because of the proximity of the election. If he loses, it will be harder to get such a premium,” said Dave Aronberg, state attorney for Palm Beach county and a frequent Trump critic.
“This is money for Trump. It’s his best and most lucrative property, and I can’t imagine he’s going to send money he’s allowed to keep in his pocket over to his campaign. He’s got legions of diehard supporters to fund that and his lawsuits and his legal fees.”
Aronberg said the chance to mingle with Trump would be a big attraction for a certain type of person with a million dollars to spare, if he wins in November.
“There’s tennis, there’s golf, there’s entertainment, Andrea Bocelli performed there, and you’ve got the food,” he said.
“But I do think that if he loses the election again the price may stay the same, but the demand will fall.”