Wealthy individuals and business leaders are shelling out millions of dollars to dine with President Donald Trump at his lavish Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
Reports emerging in early 2025 reveal a tiered system of access: $5 million secures a one-on-one meeting with the president, while $1 million buys a seat at a so-called “candlelight dinner” alongside other high rollers.
This phenomenon, detailed across multiple news outlets, raises questions about the intersection of money, power, and governance in Trump’s second term.
According to a detailed investigation by WIRED, business elites are flocking to Mar-a-Lago, eager to curry favor with the newly re-elected president.
The outlet reported on March 4, 2025, that these exclusive events, organized under the banner of MAGA Inc.—a super PAC that spent over $450 million to support Trump’s 2024 campaign—offer unparalleled access to the commander-in-chief.
“Business leaders can secure a one-on-one meeting with the president at Mar-a-Lago for $5 million,” WIRED noted, citing sources with direct knowledge of the arrangements, while group dinners cost $1 million per attendee.
The invitation for a recent “candlelight dinner” held on March 1 explicitly marketed the event as a chance to dine with “special guest President Donald J. Trump.”
The Washington Post, while not directly cited in the provided search results for this exact story, has a history of covering Trump’s fundraising efforts at Mar-a-Lago.
In a 2022 article, the Post documented how Trump leveraged an FBI search of the estate to boost donations to his political action committee, raking in over $1 million daily in the aftermath.
This precedent suggests the paper would likely frame the current dinners as an extension of Trump’s knack for monetizing his personal brand and properties—a narrative consistent with WIRED’s reporting on the 2025 events.
Similarly, CNN has previously scrutinized Trump’s financial dealings tied to Mar-a-Lago.
A 2024 analysis by the network revealed that Trump and associated political groups funneled over $28 million in campaign donations into his businesses since 2015, with Mar-a-Lago serving as a key venue for fundraisers.
Although CNN has not yet published a specific March 2025 report on the million-dollar dinners based on the available data, its past coverage indicates a likely focus on the ethical implications of such transactions—especially given Trump’s current status as a sitting president unable to run for a third term.
The New Republic offered a sharper critique in its March 4, 2025, piece titled “Trump Turns Mar-a-Lago Dinners Into Pricey Pay to Play Scheme.”
The article described the dinners as a “cash grab” targeting business moguls desperate to align with Trump’s agenda.
“Trump’s team clearly saw an opportunity… in the frenzy of business moguls scrambling to court the president,” the outlet wrote, echoing WIRED’s observation that tech executives, in particular, are eager to demonstrate loyalty after collectively donating millions to Trump’s inauguration fund.
The New York Times has also tracked Trump’s interactions with influential figures at Mar-a-Lago.
A December 13, 2024, article reported that Apple CEO Tim Cook met with Trump at the estate, dining on the patio to discuss issues like tariffs and App Store regulations.
While this encounter predates the million-dollar dinner scheme, it underscores Mar-a-Lago’s role as a hub for power brokers seeking Trump’s ear—a trend now amplified by the formalized pricing structure reported in 2025.
Across the Atlantic, the BBC has historically approached Trump’s Mar-a-Lago dealings with a focus on their financial and legal dimensions.
A 2023 BBC article questioned the true value of the estate amid a fraud trial, noting Trump’s tendency to inflate its worth for personal gain.
While no March 2025 BBC report is cited in the search results, its prior skepticism suggests it might view the dinners as another chapter in Trump’s long-standing practice of blurring the lines between personal profit and public office.
Reuters, known for its straightforward reporting, has not been directly linked to this story in the provided data.
However, its coverage of Trump’s post-2024 election transition—including meetings with foreign leaders and corporate titans at Mar-a-Lago—implies it would likely report the dinners as a factual development in Trump’s financial strategy, perhaps with an eye toward potential legal scrutiny.
The purpose of these funds remains murky.
A source quoted by WIRED claimed “it’s all going to the library,” referring to a future Trump presidential library, though no official confirmation has substantiated this.
Critics argue the arrangement smacks of influence peddling, especially since Trump, inaugurated on January 20, 2025, is term-limited and not campaigning for re-election.
The optics of a sitting president hosting million-dollar dinners at his private club have sparked outrage among ethics watchdogs and political opponents, who see it as a brazen monetization of the presidency.
As Trump settles into his second term, the Mar-a-Lago dinners signal a new frontier in political access—one where the price of admission is steep, and the rewards, for those who can pay, potentially transformative.
Whether this practice withstands legal or public scrutiny remains to be seen, but for now, it’s clear that Trump’s Florida estate is more than a winter retreat: it’s a gilded marketplace for power.
