Donald Trump‘s post-presidential life has left him ‘restless’ in Mar-a-Lago – a ‘miniature’ White House where his aides allegedly pander to his shattered ego.
The disgruntled former president’s lifestyle in Florida, which includes playing 18 holes of golf a day, is ‘sad’ and he’s forced to rely heavily on his aides Natalie Harp and Molly Michael, insiders claim.
Harp reportedly follows Trump around his golf courses in a cart equipped with a laptop and printer to offer him uplifting news stories when he needs a morale boost, the Washington Post revealed.
Michael is known to phone Trump’s network of allies to urge them to dial the former president to lift his low spirits, claimed a source.
Those close to Donald Trump (pictured during an event at his Mar-a-Lago home on November 15) have revealed details of his post-presidential life – and say that his existence in Florida is generally ‘sad’
Donald Trump pictured golfing at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida
The former president has spent much of his time after leaving office in early 2021 in Mar-a-Lago – his club in Palm Beach, Florida
Trump’s former aides, advisors and assistants who worked at his various offices revealed to the Post the ‘sad’ and often depressing inner-workings of his new life.
His reluctant departure from the White House in early 2021 reportedly left him feeling lonely, frustrated and starved of attention.
Trump, after the highs of the presidency, gets restless when nothing is happening, the sources claim.
Amid the transition he was forced to replace loyal aides with those more inexperienced and unable to advise him against making bad decisions, insiders told the Post.
Trump has spent almost all of his time between his clubs – mostly in Mar-a-Lago in Florida but also the Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey – since leaving the White House.
He is treated like a monarch – praised by members and surrounded by staff that choose not to ‘confront him because he can be a beast.’
‘He needs someone there to say, “Here’s a really bad idea, and this is why.” I don’t think he has that kind of crowd around him right now. Nor does the president want anybody like that,’ David Urban, a longtime Trump adviser turned critic, told the Post.
It was under these circumstances that Trump had dinner with anti-Semite Kanye West and white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
One of Trumps aides follows him around as he plays golf, printing off uplifting news stories to boost his morale
Trump’s aide and former host of One America News, Natalie Harp, . Some members of his circles have expressed concern about Harp, the Post reported, because they feel she panders too submissively to his wants and needs
Molly Michael, former White House assistant and current Trump aide. She has reportedly urged his network of allies to boost his low spirits by giving him a phone call from time to time, insiders told the Post
Members of his circles have expressed concern about Harp, the Post reported, because they feel she panders too submissively to his wants and needs.
Some aides have urged Trump to vet the posts he puts out on his social media channel Truth Social whereas Harp has shown she is willing to post freely and without reviewing the material.
One longtime Trump confidant described his new life as ‘sad’ and called Mar-a-Lago ‘a Barbie Dream House miniature’ version of the White House that lacks bustle.
In Mar-a-Lago – his 17-acre club in Palm Beach – the former president refurbished a room above his 20,000 square foot ballroom to serve as an office. It pales in comparison with the Oval Office he once occupied.
Trump personally oversaw that overhaul – selecting furniture, rugs and paintings and even specifying which mementos from his time in office should be put up.
His aides also requested the federal government lease the space on his property for his use as a post-presidential office. It did not oblige, instead leasing a space for him in West Palm Beach.
In Mar-a-Lago, Trump refurbished a room above his 20,000 square foot ballroom to serve as an office
Since leaving the White House Trump has divided of his time between Trump-owned clubs Mar-a-Lago and the Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey
The Oval Office is not the only thing he misses, according to those who know him. He was reportedly saddened to learn by how much his security detail and motorcade had shrunk.
The days of flying in the luxurious presidential aircraft Air Force One were also long gone, causing him further distress, they say.
To make matters worse, his personally-owned Boeing 757 was being serviced for years and suffering delays that infuriated him.
Former aides also told the Washington Post that he struggled to adjust to life where his statements to the press carried less of a punch.
One advisor spoke of how in 2021 Trump asked a team of advisors to summon a press pool for an event he was hosting at the Florida club, seemingly unaware that he no longer commanded such coverage.
To compensate he has built a lifestyle that keeps him surrounded by Trump loyalists and admiring fans that attend his clubs as members.
Advisors painted a picture of what typical day looks like for Trump since he left the presidential office.
He gets up early, they say, and begins the day by making phone calls, watching television and reading newspapers. Six days a week he plays 18 or sometimes 27 holes of golf at one of his courses.
After lunch he is known to change from his golf attire into a suit, at which point he relocates to one of his offices. In Mar-a-Lago that is above the ballroom, in New Jersey it’s a similar office in a cottage near the club’s pool.
In the evening he eats dinner publicly among club members, who applaud him when he arrives at his table and later once again when he retires for the night.
He often orders special meals from the kitchen and is known to play close attention to the volume of the music in restaurants, altering it in accordance with his mood.
Even his state appointed security – provided to him for free because he is a former president – have warned him of issues caused by a lack of protection at Mar-a-Lago.
One aide advised that it might be beneficial to vet guests, to which Trump reportedly replied: ‘The members need to be able to come and go.’ He also reportedly told his advisors that security at the clubs is not an issue because everyone attending them loves him.
‘I think it’s pretty obvious, when there was no around to tell you that, “No, Mr. President, you cannot do that,” it just leads inevitably to this kind of problem,’ Chris Whipple, a historian of White House chiefs of staff, told the Post.
‘In a way it looks almost like the Trump Presidency 2.0,’ he said. ‘Just no guard rails, on steroids.’
Guam native and former member of the US Navy Will Nauta (left) and Trump’s body man in the West Wing who gave evidence in January 6 hearings Nick Luna (right)
Trump announced he would be running for president for the third time during an event at Mar-a-Lago on November 15. But his Florida life is perhaps more sad than he makes out, according to insiders
Adding to Trump’s frustrations after leaving office was the fact he was banned from Twitter just two days after the events of January 6, which have undoubtedly loomed over him since.
The aftermath of that fiasco also meant he was facing mounting legal bills as he was forced to consult with lawyers on an almost daily basis.
Some aides spoke of how they were waiting for him to do something productive or meaningful with his life after his presidency, but instead he remained fixated on the election he lost, and which he insisted was stolen from him.
‘It was a really dark, dark time,’ one aide told the Post, saying that staff would ask, ‘are you going to set up a library? What’s your post-presidential foundation?’
‘He wasn’t interested in any of that at all,’ the aide added.
While many former aides criticized Trump for his lack of productivity, his loyal assistant Harp suggested the contrary.
‘Like other staffers, I do spend time with him,’ Harp wrote to Washington Post reporters, adding that she has ‘a great respect’ for Trump.
‘He is extremely popular with the people,’ she wrote. ‘I see that by being with him.’
Trump plays gold most mornings before getting into a suit and taking phone calls in his office during the afternoons. He is pictured at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey
Trump eats his dinner most evenings at the club’s restaurant, where members applaud him as he sits at his table as well as when he leaves at the end of the night
The disgruntled former president’s lifestyle in Florida, which includes playing 18 holes of golf a day, is ‘sad’ and he’s forced to rely heavily on his aides Natalie Harp and Molly Michael, insiders claim
