President Trump hosted yet another glitzy fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago Saturday night as the Middle East was lit up by Iranian missiles targeting the U.S. and its allies in the region.
Video posted on Instagram appeared to show Trump greeting wealthy visitors at his West Palm Beach club on the night that Tehran vowed to unleash “devastating blows” in retaliation for airstrikes which killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader.
Trump was spotted in a video posted on Instagram on Saturday night Instagram
Trump admitted in a 2 a.m. Truth Social post in the early hours of Saturday morning that he expected U.S. citizens to die in the war he had just started, but that put no dent in the party schedule at Trump’s private beach resort.
Those fears were later confirmed by military officials, who said Sunday that three U.S. service members were killed and five others seriously wounded in Operation Epic Fury.
Karoline Leavitt told White House reporters on Saturday afternoon that the president would take time out from launching wave after wave of missile strikes against Iran to mingle with millionaires at a Republican fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago.
Florida Vape magnate Shlomi Evgi posted photos on Instagram on Saturday night that showed him posing with Trump’s top diplomatic brains, Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff. He also posted video footage of Trump in a gilded room, wearing a golden tie, shaking hands with high-rolling guests who had paid top dollar to attend the fundraiser.
New York property developer Steve Witkof is entrusted with negotiating peace all over the world. Instagram
Evgi, who received a written warning about breaching U.S. tobacco laws from the FDA in 2024, wrote, “Honored to meet Marco Rubio.” The CEO of QR Joy, which manufactures vapes under the Fume brand, is a regular at Mar-a-Lago and has met Trump on multiple occasions, according to a host of photos on his Instagram.
Rubio is one of the key architects of Trump’s aggressive foreign policy positions. Instagram
The White House did not respond to a request for confirmation that Trump was partying on Saturday night, but Leavitt had been clear earlier in the day. “President Trump still intends to stop by the fundraiser being held at Mar-a-Lago this evening for the Republican Party, which is more important than ever,” she said.
Trump wearing the same trucker hat he wore while declaring war on Iran. @jmdherin/Instagram
In the hours before launching the war in the Middle East, Trump danced to “YMCA” and Lee Greenwood’s MAGA classic “God Bless the USA,” while a black-tie crowd interrupted the charity gala cocktails to chant “USA! USA!”
Little did the guests know that the U.S. military was preparing joint strikes on Iran with Israel at that very moment. Trump would soon disappear behind a curtain into a temporary situation room to watch the attacks unfold.
A peek behind the curtain (at the highly classified intel). White House / X
Once the party guests had gone home, Trump posted a wild video on Truth Social announcing that war had begun.
In the 24 hours since, there have been missile attacks on at least 10 countries: Iran, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, and Qatar. The U.K. also said missiles heading for Cyprus, an island in Europe with a large British military base, had been intercepted.
The New York Times reported late last year that Mar-a-Lago would host a fundraiser this weekend, which would cost $1 million per person to attend.