12 percent of GOP senators have visited Mar-a-Lago since Trump left office

At least six Republican senators, 15 representatives have dropped in on the former president’s resort-home

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) dined with former President Donald J. Trump Tuesday night at Mar-a-Lago, bringing to at least six the number of GOP senators who have visited his private club-cum-residence since he left office.

House Republicans have called on Mar-a-Lago at a clip just lower than that of their cohorts in the upper chamber, according to 1100 Pennsylvania’s running analysis. At least 15 of 212 congresspeople (7 percent) haven been there since House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) sent the message that it was acceptable to still visit a Trump business after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

Additionally, Mar-a-Lago has hosted at least two sitting Republican governors, three gubernatorial challengers, three candidates for U.S. Senate, and nine aspirants for the U.S. House.

Several of these elected officials and candidates held campaign events at Mar-a-Lago, directly helping the GOP standard-bearer profit. And all of these dignitaries have served as draws for the club’s members and other customers.

Trump’s nearby golf courses in Palm Beach and Doral have witnessed an influx of GOP notables as well.

Here’s the latest batch of notable sightings.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) let the world know he enjoyed a great dinner with Trump Tuesday night at Mar-a-Lago.

A GOP candidate for governor in New Jersey, pastor Phil Rizzo enjoyed a remembrance while at the former president’s house. Rizzo is a member of Trump Bedminster, reported David Wildstein for The New Jersey Globe.

Republican candidate for U.S. House in Florida and “proud Islamophobe” (as Jared Holt reported for Right Wing Watch) Laura Loomer enjoyed another photo op with the former president at his house.

At Mar-a-Lago, a GOP candidate for a U.S. House seat in Florida, Cory Mills, landed the coveted Trump fist bump and reciprocal finger point.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller popped up at the former president’s home, which is not in Texas.

At Mar-a-Lago last week, former leader of the U.K. Independence Party and one-time member of the European Parliament Nigel Farage checked out the ex-president and approved.

Former U.S. Ambassadors Randy Evans (Luxembourg), Peter Hokestra (the Netherlands), Lana Marks (South Africa), and Carla Sands (Denmark) lunched and breakfasted (?) at their former benefactor’s business. Sands is weighing a run for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, reported Jonathan Tamari for The Philadelphia Inquirer. [H/T @SpaSuzy]

Meanwhile, Newsmax personality John Cardillo noted that “Trump DC, in fact all of DC, is a ghost town.”

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Reference section

Links to rundowns of developments in the House’s investigations and lawsuits, reference sheets for some of 1100 Pennsylvania’s previous reporting, and articles that provide the background on why all of this matters. The date published or last updated is in parentheses.

Trackers

• House investigations (Dec. 20, 2020)

• Lawsuits (Jan. 26, 2021)

• Breakdown of judges’ rulings by political party of presidents who nominated them (July 13, 2020)

• Health inspections (Oct. 6, 2020)

• COVID-19 bailouts and charity (Nov. 30, 2020)

Notable customers

• Politicians spotted at Mar-a-Lago post-presidency (May 5, 2021)

• Foreign governments with representatives spotted at the Trump Hotel D.C.: 33 (Sept. 22, 2020)

• Trump cabinet members spotted at the Trump Hotel D.C.: 28 of 37 (Jan 21, 2021)

• U.S. Senators who’ve supported the Trump Hotel D.C.: 35 of 65 Republicans, one Democrat (Jan. 21, 2021)

• House Judiciary members who’ve supported the Trump Hotel D.C.: Seven of 17 Republicans, no Democrats (Sept. 25, 2020)

• House Intelligence members who’ve supported the Trump Hotel D.C.: Four of eight Republicans, no Democrats (June 1, 2020)

• House Oversight members who’ve supported the Trump Hotel D.C.: Nine of 17 Republicans, no Democrats (Aug. 2, 2020)

• House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management who’ve supported the Trump Hotel D.C.: Four out of six Republicans, one Democrat (July 1, 2020)

• Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R–CA) found Trump’s hotels competitive only after Trump’s election (Sept. 12, 2019)

• Rudy Giuliani at the Trump Hotel D.C: A retrospective (April 30, 2019)

Summaries

• “Stay to play: Inside the sordid history of Trump’s D.C. hotel—And why the president’s prized property could be headed for a reckoning” by your correspondent for Mother Jones (September 2020)

• “Power tripping in the swamp: How Trump’s D.C. hotel swallowed Washington
  The MAGA social scene is a movable feast, but its dark heart resides within the Old Post Office Building, where the Trump Org operates under a mercenary charter” by your correspondent for Vanity Fair (October 2019)

• “Inside the world’s most controversial hotel: The hotel that was expected to take its place among the crown jewels of D.C.’s travel scene has become a magnet for protestors, a West Wing Annex, and—possibly—the center of a constitutional crisis.” by your correspondent for Condé Nast Traveler (May 2018)

Upcoming key dates

• Sept. 23, 2019—House Judiciary Committee hearing “Presidential corruption: Emoluments and profiting off the presidency” (postponed, not yet rescheduled)

• March 30, 2021—Deadline for GSA to provide information on the Trump Hotel D.C.’s lease to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee

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