Lifestyle
A Look at Trump’s Inauguration Weekend Parties: Guests, Donors and Details
Late Sunday night, just hours before Donald J. Trump would be sworn in as America’s 47th president, his fans showed up ready to party in the president-elect’s honor.
Many arrived after 10 p.m. in black cars and vans that drove through the roads around the White House, which are otherwise closed to vehicle traffic ahead of the inauguration.
An earlier snowstorm had passed, but the temperatures remained frigid, with black ice covering the ground. The weather had already dashed the dreams of too many donors, who spent the weekend bothering Trump officials with the hopes of seeing the inauguration up-close at the Capitol Rotunda rather than being relegated to the suites of the Capital One Arena, no matter how much booze or food would be there.
Since Mr. Trump’s win in November, his supporters from Silicon Valley and beyond have opened their bank accounts to him. Inauguration weekend was no different, with donors spending millions for the opportunity to jump from ballrooms to yachts to rooftops with views of the White House for lavish events.
Billionaires seen around Washington over the weekend included Miriam Adelson, the casino magnate and widow of Sheldon Adelson; Paul Singer, the hedge fund titan who is among the most influential Republican donors in the country; Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Meta, who spent days party-hopping as part of his attempt to win a place in Mr. Trump’s orbit; and Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Google who eight years ago around this time was unexpectedly showing up at protests against Mr. Trump’s travel ban on some Muslim countries.
This year? He was unexpectedly showing up at Trump inauguration parties.
Inaugural weekends, after all, are a time-honored tradition for major donors who come to pay respects and make amends, with packages for a suite of events going for about $1 million. This year, the mood felt jubilant, with little of the unease of the last time Mr. Trump came to Washington when major corporations seemed nervous about the impacts of his administration.
The entire weekend had this Silicon Valley inflection, based on interviews and attendance at a half-dozen events. Tech companies hosted many of the biggest parties and drew assorted technorati.
At the Crypto Ball — a pro-Trump event hosted by the cryptocurrency industry, held Friday evening — Snoop Dogg performed Bob Marley’s hit “Everything’s Gonna Be All Right” for incoming administration officials from Silicon Valley and top cryptocurrency investors, some of whom, despite their wealth, waited in long lines in the cold to get inside the auditorium.
The same night, a block away, the town’s power players took center stage at a steakhouse in downtown Washington. Brian Ballard — one of the top lobbyists likely to cash in on the return to power — reveled in the adulation, fielding introductions to future clients.
The next night, Peter Thiel, once a close supporter of Mr. Trump’s, opened his mansion to figures including Mr. Zuckerberg, JD Vance, and Donald Trump Jr.
On Sunday afternoon, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. braved an afternoon sleet storm to trek to The Ned, a member’s club in downtown Washington, not yet open, for a private party thrown by the co-hosts of the podcast “All-In,” a popular conservative podcast that explores tech, politics, and economics hosted by venture capitalists.
Many in Silicon Valley decided to close out the weekend on Sunday at a party hosted by X, Uber, and the Free Press, the online media company founded by the former New York Times opinion writer Bari Weiss.
Held at the Riggs Hotel, it felt full of the heady energy of a rehearsal dinner. Many of Mr. Kennedy’s seven adult children took over a back room where servers passed them trays of wine and security kept them away from prying eyes.
“There are a lot of us,” said Kyra Kennedy, his youngest daughter, who is a model and fashion designer in Milan. “It’s tough to get us all together in the same room, so this is really special.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Thiel, Mehmet Oz, the celebrity doctor picked by President-elect Trump to the be the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and Bret Baier, the Fox News anchor, roamed the main room flanked with marble columns and hanging chandeliers, finding friends in the crowds.
Other guests included Liz Truss, the former British prime minister; John Barrasso, the senator from Wyoming; Jacob Helberg, an incoming administration official; and Francis Suarez, the mayor of Miami.
There was a full bar in addition to a separate martini bar. Servers passed around snacks like shrimp rolls and tuna rice cakes prepared by the Michelin-starred chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who has a restaurant in the Trump Tower in Manhattan.
The country star Dierks Bentley performed for the crowd, standing on the bar for an enthusiastic rendition of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”
“It was so good, so good,” said Conor McGregor, the U.F.C. boxer, who watched the performance. He was swarmed by fans all night, his popularity seemingly unscathed despite his being held liable for sexual assault in November and the fact that he is facing a new lawsuit.
Some guests arrived in black-tie attire, having come from a candlelight dinner hosted by Mr. Trump at the nearby National Building Museum (tickets started at $250,000) or the Turning Point Inaugural Ball at the Salamander Hotel, where the Village People performed. Linda Yaccarino, the chief executive of X, was wearing a gown inspired by vintage Dior made by a close friend’s son.
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas arrived around 11:30 p.m., and Mr. Brin, the co-founder of Google, stopped by just after midnight.
Mr. Musk consumed much of the night’s attention with the constant speculation of whether he would show up at all at a party hosted by his own company. He did not, although several family members, including his mother, Maye, brother Kimbal, and his wealth manager, Jared Birchall, were in the crowd, as were several of his closest friends.
Joanna Coles, the chief content officer at the Daily Beast, said the weekend reminded her a little of a television show.
“All the characters left from the first season, and now we have a whole new plot of characters,” she said, adding: “And there are going to be plot twists.”
Lifestyle
‘Wait Wait’ for April 18. 2026: With Not My Job guest Phil Pritchard
Phil Pritchard of the Hockey Hall of Fame works the 2019 NHL Awards at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on June 19, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
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This week’s show was recorded in Chicago with host Peter Sagal, judge and guest scorekeeper Alzo Slade, Not My Job guest Phil Pritchard and panelists Alonzo Bodden, Adam Burke, and Dulcé Sloan. Click the audio link above to hear the whole show.
Who’s Alzo This Time
The Don Vs The Poppa; World’s Worst Doctor; Should We Eat That?
Panel Questions
Big Cheese News!
Bluff The Listener
Our panelists tell three stories about someone missing a huge opportunity in the news, only one of which is true.
Not My Job: Phil Pritchard, the NHL’s Keeper of the Stanley Cup, answers three questions about the other NHL, National Historic Landmarks
Peter talks to Phil Pritchard, the NHL’s Keeper of the Stanley Cup. Phil plays our game called, “Let’s Go Visit The NHL” Three questions about National Historic Landmarks.
Panel Questions
The Trump Dump and Air Traffic Control Becomes Animal Control
Limericks
Alzo Slade reads three news-related limericks: Spice Up Your Spring Cleaning; A Fizzy Meaty Drink; The Right Way to Eat Peeps.
Lightning Fill In The Blank
All the news we couldn’t fit anywhere else
Predictions
Our panelists predict the next big AirBnB story in the news
Lifestyle
How to have the best Sunday in L.A., according to Paul W. Downs
Paul W. Downs can’t help it that even on the weekends, his life intersects with “Hacks,” the HBO comedy he co-created and co-showruns with his wife, Lucia Aniello, and their friend Jen Statsky. (He also appears on the show as Jimmy LuSaque Jr., the besieged manager of its two stars, played by Emmy winners Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder.) The fifth and final season of “Hacks” premiered last week, but on Downs’ days off, he often finds himself at its previous filming locations or hanging out with cast members who have become like family.
In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
Downs moved to Los Angeles in 2011, but soon after, he and Aniello were hired to write (and for him to act) on the über-New York show “Broad City,” keeping them away from the West Coast for years. Now the couple live in Los Feliz, which they enjoy with their young son.
“I love Los Feliz because it’s a real neighborhood with restaurants and bars, but also feels close to nature with Griffith Park,” Downs says. “Also it’s very central to my Eastside friends and Westside agents.”
And if he had to live at a local mall, like the character Ava Daniels did in the third season of “Hacks,” which would he choose?
“It would be the Americana, obviously.”
Here’s how he’d spend a perfect day in L.A.
10 a.m.: A late rise and a li’l barista
I’m sleeping in if I can, which I can’t because I have a toddler, but let’s say I can sleep ’til 10. That would be insane.
Then I’m making coffee at home. I’m making it with my 4-year-old because he likes to make my coffee now. He always wanted to help, now he really wants to do it on his own. I’m still there to supervise, but he does do a lot of it.
I do batch brew. I’m doing Verve Coffee that I’m grinding there, and then I’m brewing four cups because I need my coffee. I had a Moccamaster for a long time, but I recently got a Simply Good Coffee. There’s no plastic — it’s all glass and metal.
11 a.m.: Chocolate croissants for everyone
We’re driving to Pasadena and we’re going to [Artisanal Goods by] CAR, which is the place to get the best chocolate croissant, I think, in the world. I don’t just think in L.A., I think they’re better than Paris. I’m going there with my wife and my kid and I’m having another coffee and some pastry. We’re ordering three [chocolate croissants]. We’re not doubling up.
11:45 a.m.: The family business
We’re driving to Fair Oaks in Pasadena. There’s a place called T.L. Gurley. We shot “Hacks” there, actually. Not only in Season 1, but also full circle in Season 5. We’re going to shmay around and look at antiques. My kid is going to want to play a vintage pinball machine. We’re going to find a little piece of art for the house or what have you. It’s not necessarily that I’m on the hunt. It’s to pass the time and to have some fun. If I could do anything and have a leisurely day and take my mind off work, that’s what I’m doing.
People love to interact with my kid when he’s there. We’re really training him to appraise things at a young age. My parents are part-time dealers of antiques. My grandmother bought and sold antiques. It’s kind of a family business.
1:30 pm.: Baguettes and books
We’re driving to Larchmont and we’re getting a sandwich at Larchmont Village Wine, Spirits & Cheese. I’m doing prosciutto-mozzarella-basil on a baguette.
Then we’re going to Chevalier’s Books. What’s sad is that I’m often not looking for leisure material. I’m looking for something that I’m interested in learning more about or writing about, or that they’re turning into a show I want to audition for. But we’re also doing Little Golden Books for my son. He’s obsessed. We’re not huge on screen time, so we really encourage the book-buying.
2:30 p.m.: Cast pool party
We’re having some family fun in the pool and we’re doing that until evening. We invite people over all the time. My sister-in-law is a New Yorker, but she actually wrote last season on “The Rooster” and she’s often writing on shows in L.A., so she’s often here and she’ll have a couple friends come over. I know this sounds like a piece of PR or something, but we’ll really literally have Hannah [Einbinder] and maybe Mark Indelicato from “Hacks” come over to swim. Jen, our co-creator of “Hacks,” will come over.
6:00 p.m.: Family dinner
Sometimes we’ll order Grá to the house, which is a pizza place in Echo Park — excellent sourdough crust pizza. But if we don’t do that, an ideal evening is an early dinner at All Time on Hillhurst in Los Feliz. We’re ordering the ceviche and my son is having all of it and not sharing with anybody at the table.
8:45 p.m.: A thrilling ending to the day
After putting my kid to bed, my wife and I, in an ideal world (full disclosure: we haven’t done this in two years), we’ll watch something together that we’ve been meaning to watch. We have a long list of movies and we either want to revisit or that we haven’t seen that we need to watch.
We don’t watch a lot of comedies. It’s a dream to watch a “Black Bag” or a little espionage thriller. We really like that because it’s so different than the stuff that we’re working on in the day.
Often the things we watch are things that we admire. We like deconstructing it as fans of film and television. We do like talking about the making of it, but it’s less of a critique and more of a listing of the things we appreciated about it.
10:30 p.m.: No work tomorrow
And then it’s lovemaking ’til morning on a perfect Sunday. If it’s a perfect Sunday, there’s also a Monday that’s off.
Lifestyle
Sitting in a jail cell, alone and hopeless, a man’s life is suddenly changed
Jay (not pictured) found himself alone and hopeless in a jail cell when a fellow inmate’s unexpected words of comfort changed his life.
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When Jay was 22 years old, he was a self-described loner. In this story, he is being identified by his nickname to allow himself to speak candidly about the following experience and his mental health. He says the few people he did hang out with at the time had questionable morals.
”I chose my friends poorly, and your friends have a tendency to rub off on you. And so I started making poor decisions,” Jay said.
One evening, when he and his friends were out drinking, someone suggested they should try to break into the chemistry building on his college campus. Most of the group shrugged the suggestion off, deeming it impossible, but Jay was convinced he could pull it off.
“The next night I made a plan of how to do it, and I did it,” Jay remembered. “And I didn’t get caught doing it, [but] I got caught afterwards.”
At around 1 that morning, Jay was placed in the county detention center. Sitting alone in his cell, reality began to sink in.

“I pretty much thought that my life as I knew it was going to be over, and I had decided that the world would be better off without me in it.”
Jay made a plan to end his life. As he prepared himself, he began to cry.
“But just in that moment when I was ready to do it, I heard a voice coming from the top left corner of my cell, from a little vent. And someone called out to me and said, ‘Hey, is this your first time?’”
The man who called out was an inmate in the cell next door.
“I collected myself a little bit, and I said, ‘Yeah.’ And he said, ‘Can I pray for you?’”
Jay had grown up religious, but had stopped going to church years before. In that moment, though, he knew he needed support. He said yes, and listened as the man began to pray.

“I wish I could tell you that I remember the [exact] words that he said to me, but what I remember is that his words landed with me, and instead of wanting my life to be over, suddenly I saw hope,” Jay said.
The interaction happened nearly ten years ago, but it was a pivotal moment in Jay’s life, and one he thinks about all the time.
“[Now], I have a good job. I have a girlfriend who loves me. I have a life. But I have a life because somebody who was in the same situation I was in had the courage to talk to a fellow inmate and be kind.”
Jay says that he wishes he could meet that man again and express his appreciation.
“[I would] shake that guy’s hand, give him a hug, and tell him what his small gesture meant for me, how he changed the course of my life.”
My Unsung Hero is also a podcast — new episodes are released every Tuesday. To share the story of your unsung hero with the Hidden Brain team, record a voice memo on your phone and send it to myunsunghero@hiddenbrain.org.
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