Donald Trump has been evicted from the White House and banished from social media, and lives in something like exile at his Mar-A-Lago private resort.
But he's certainly not alone, and basks in a "biosphere" of adoration at the Florida club, where he rubs elbows with members and guests who posts photos and videos of the twice-impeached one-term president at engagement parties, memorial services and other events, reported Bloomberg.
"Donald Trump needs the adulation of the crowd the way you or I need oxygen to breathe," said his former attorney Michael Cohen.
That's exactly what he gets at Mar-A-Lago.
"At every moment of his day, Trump is bathed in adulation," reported Bloomberg's Joshua Green. "When he enters the dining room, people stand and applaud. When he returns from golf, he's met with squeals and selfie requests. When he leaves Mar-a-Lago, he often encounters flag-waving throngs organized by Willy Guardiola, a former professional harmonica player and anti-abortion activist who runs weekly pro-Trump rallies in Palm Beach."
"In this gilded Biosphere, Trump encounters no one who isn't vocally gratified by his presence," Green added. "When he speaks extemporaneously, so many guests post footage that you can watch the same weird scene unfold from multiple vantage points, like the Japanese film Rashomon."
A steady stream of Republican lawmakers has visited Trump at his club, and his children Ivanka and Donald Jr. have bought multi-million-dollar homes nearby, as have Fox News broadcasters Sean Hannity and Neal Cavuto.
"Think about how utterly bizarre that is," said Democratic strategist Eddie Vale. "It's like if Rachel Maddow and the Pod Save America guys all bought condos in Chicago because they wanted to be close to Barack Obama."Trump-loving Newsmax broadcasts from nearby Boca Raton while former campaign manager Brad Parscale serves the ex-president's political operations with his Campaign Nucleus firm in Fort Lauderdale, and the Conservative Political Action Conference moved from its regular location in Washington this year to Orlando.
"It's crazy," said former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, now a Newsmax host. "It's a full-on migration."
"It's like Disney World — that's just one ride at the amusement park," Spicer added. "I can shoot the show in Boca, go to see the president, go to a fundraiser, and do eight other things while I'm down there. There's a lot of attractions."
