As reported by CBS, the traditional gala dinner preceding Donald Trump’s inauguration into the White House, and attended by political leaders, major MAGA donors, and members of the new federal administration, was chaos.
Just to gain access to the event, hosted by the National Building Museum, guests were forced to spend more than 90 minutes in line, despite the freezing temperatures. Once inside, many attendees discovered that their seats were already occupied by other individuals trying to get as close as possible to Trump’s table. “A total disaster,” one of the attendees told CBS microphones.
According to an inaugural committee official, staff had informed donors in early January that the weekend events were all sold out, and that further donations would not guarantee seats. To obtain two tickets for Sunday’s candlelight dinner, attendees had to donate at least $250,000 to the organizing committee.
The event was attended by about 2,000 guests, including Jeff Yass of Susquehanna International Group, Ryan Lance of ConocoPhillips, Jim Taiclet of Lockheed Martin, Michael Novogratz of Galaxy, singer Carrie Underwood, Todd Ricketts, owner of the Chicago Cubs, and Bernard Arnault, one of the world’s richest men and patron of LVMH.
Diners said that at some point during the evening, security personnel began to speed up the checks so that people in line could enter more easily. However, some of them, when they gained access to the main hall, found the bar already closed. Despite the various organizational problems, however, one source said that “everyone was in great spirits and excited to be there.”
Another hiccup, the dinner’s main course was not served to everyone present until 10:30 pm. According to CBS rumors, some guests, who were hungry, wandered off to grab a pizza or hamburger.
Upon his arrival, President Trump sat in the company of Kelly Loeffler and Jeffrey Sprecher, chairs of the inaugural committee, billionaire Miriam Adelson, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos of Amazon with his partner Lauren Sanchez. Near the MAGA leader’s table were Mark Zuckerberg with wife Priscilla Chan, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, and soon afterwards Dana White, CEO of the UFC, Musk’s mother Maye and younger sister Tosca, and Arnault.
