When Donald Trump, his aides and his allies swept into Washington, D.C. in 2017 they had an obvious hangout.
Trump had turned the Old Post Office building into the ornate Trump International Hotel Washington D.C., located just four blocks down Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House.
It gave those in the MAGA movement a comfortable cocoon away from the droves of liberals who make up the vast majority of the population of the nation’s capital.
Now, eight years later, that property is a Waldorf Astoria, meaning MAGA doesn’t have a natural home base – unless Trump buys it back, as some reporting suggested he might last week.
The nearby Harry’s – the Hotel Harrington’s dive bar that had its reputation tainted due to being outed as a Proud Boys hangout – also shuttered since Trump was last in office.
Hill Country Barbecue, where Trump White House staffers often gathered Wednesday nights for the popular live band karaoke session, is in the middle of lease negotiations.
But the restaurant group’s founder & CEO Marc Glosserman assured DailyMail.com that it was sticking around.
‘We have been working with our landlord to extend our lease in this location, and we fully expect to secure a long-term future for Hill Country there,’ Glosserman said in an email. ‘It’s great to learn that we have fans in the incoming administration!’ he added.
Washington, D.C.’s Trump International Hotel turned into a Waldorf Astoria during President Joe Biden’s administration. President-elect Donald Trump has still held press conferences there and aides and allies still frequent the Waldorf due to its proximity to the White House
Hill Country Barbecue was a popular hangout for Trump White House during the first Trump administration. Young aides would frequent the Wednesday live band karaoke sessions. Now the establishment’s Boot Bar holds line dancing sessions
That hasn’t always been the enthusiastic greeting Trump-aligned restaurant-goers receive in D.C.
Trump’s Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen once attracted a crowd of protesters yelling ‘shame’ while she was dining at MXDC’s now shuttered downtown location in 2018.
That occurred days after Stephen Miller, who is returning for Trump 2.0, got called a ‘fascist’ by a fellow patron at another Mexican restaurant, Espita Mezcaleria, which has since closed.
One D.C. pizzeria that congratulated Trump on his victory last month received online hate from some D.C. residents.
But there overall seems to be a thawing this time around.
‘I think there’s more of an open mind these days,’ said a former and future Trump White House staffer who declined to be named to speak freely. ‘I think it’s like a different world right now.’
David Rubenstein, the billionaire philanthropist who is the Chairman of the Boards of the Kennedy Center, expressed an eagerness to see Donald and Melania Trump join D.C. society a little more.
Speaking to DailyMail.com at the recent Kennedy Center Honors he noted how Trump skipped the A-list event in the past but added ‘now we’re looking for the future.’
Supporters watch returns at a campaign election night watch party
Now President-elect Donald Trump is seen departing the Washington, D.C. Waldorf Astoria – which formerly was his Trump International Hotel. Trump and his aides and allies still continue to frequent the space due to its close proximity to 1600 Pennsylvania
‘I’m optimistic that he will want to come, but we’ll see. I can’t speak for him,’ Rubenstein said. ‘We always invite the President United States, and we’ll make certain that he knows about the invitation.’
Restaurateur Fritz Brogan, whose Mission Group restaurants include some favorite hangouts in Washington’s Navy Yard neighborhood, said he’s also observed more openness this time around.
‘I think in 2016, 2017 the city was more adversarial against Trump and his administration,’ Brogan said. ‘Now you see Mayor Bowser and the city try to work across the aisle and work with the incoming administration on returning workers to the office and bringing the (football) stadium back to D.C.
‘I think people are hoping that there’s sort of a flood of people and new revenue and maybe a safer D.C. in a couple of years,’ he added.
Brogan pointed that D.C.’s restaurant industry is in a very different place than it was in 2017 – thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, traditionally downtown workers tele-commuting and a ballot initiative that raised the minimum wage for tipped workers.
‘That’s why I think a lot of people these days are happy to take any kind of customer, whether it’s a tourist, a MAGA person, or whomever it might be, if they have money they want to spend,’ the restaurateur said.
Brogan was miffed by a Washingtonian story that came out earlier this month that suggested that workers – as well as the expected patrons – would resist high-profile Trump-aligned customers.
He pointed out ‘our industry is in tough shape right now.’
One Trump White House staffer pointed to one of Fritz Brogan’s Navy Yard bars as a potential weekend hangout: Royal Sands Bar, which is Florida-themed and has an interior that looks like a swimming pool. Trump’s now a Florida resident and tapped a lot of Floridians for his staff
‘You want to focus on revenues first and political opinions second,’ Brogan said.
In the piece, one D.C. restaurant veteran, the National Democratic Club’s Zac Hoffman, predicted bad behavior from liberal patrons.
‘You expect the masses to just ignore RFK eating at (Washington restaurant) Le Diplomate on a Sunday morning after a few mimosas and not to throw a drink in his face?’ Hoffman said.
Hoffman was referencing Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Democrat-turned-independent-turned MAGA embracer who’s now Trump’s pick for Health and Human Services secretary, despite being a prominent anti-vaxxer.
But the story went further when Suzannah Van Rooy, a server and manager at Beuchert’s Saloon in Capitol Hill, told Washingtonian that she would refuse to serve ‘any person in office who I know of as being a sex trafficker or trying to deport millions of people.’
But those quotes got Van Rooy fired – with the restaurant saying in an Instagram post that her comments ‘clearly violate our zero-tolerance policy on discrimination.’
In a separate post on the social media site, Beuchert’s called Van Rooy’s comments ‘inappropriate, hostile, intolerant and unacceptable.’
‘In January, we will begin serving our fourth administration as a neighborhood restaurant open and welcoming to all,’ the post continued. ‘We will always be a safe space for all.’
Dirty Water hosted a number of 2024 events for the D.C. Young Republicans. Owner Luke Casey said the H Street NE dive bar skews toward young GOP staffers due to the low price point, the fact that it sells Busch Light and plays country music
Dirty Water owner Luke Casey laughed when asked if his bar was a ‘safe space’ for Trump aides and other D.C. Republicans.
He noted that it was ‘kind of crazy that you have a political party that has control of all three branches of government and you still need a safe space in the nation’s capital.’
The dive bar located in D.C.’s H Street neighborhood, which isn’t too far away from Capitol Hill, became the place for D.C. Young Republicans to host events associated with the 2024 campaign – including debate watch parties and a Trump-themed election night shindig.
He explained to DailyMail.com that the bar – which sometimes boasts $20 to $30 open bar specials – became an intern and young Hill staffer hangout because of the low price points.
‘And we play country music, where like nobody else is going to do that,’ Casey said. ‘So. like, it does lean Republican.’
Casey said he personally leans Republican too but added a caveat. ‘I care a lot more about sports than I do about politics,’ he said.
He expected the bar would do something for Trump’s inauguration but wasn’t sure yet because January 20 is the same day as the College Football Playoff National Championship.
Casey also said he didn’t think Trump’s senior aides would flock to the hangout but it would continue to attract GOP-leaning, younger staff – but added that’s not the point anyway.
Another bar that’s been getting some pro-Trump buzz is the new Butterworth’s but that’s because Steve Bannon has rented out the Capitol Hill restaurant on several occasions due to the fact that he lives nearby
‘Nobody is coming to Dirty Water to talk about politics, let’s put it that way. You’re coming because you want to have a good time and it just so happens that people who drink Busch Light happen to lean a lot more Republican than they do Democrat,’ he said.
Another bar that’s been getting some pro-Trump buzz is the new Butterworth’s but that’s because Steve Bannon has rented out the Capitol Hill restaurant on several occasions.
Bannon has long entertained in Washington and used to do so from his Capitol Hill rowhome, which was dubbed the ‘Breitbart embassy,’ when he ran that news organization.
The Embassy would host parties featuring petting zoos and mariachi bands.
More recently he’s opted to rent bar space several blocks away – in what used to be D.C.’s historic Pour House.
Butterworth’s Chef Bart Hutchins wouldn’t speak to that – but has been noticing an interesting eating trend, which could be driven by RFK Jr. and his Make America Healthy Again movement combining itself with the MAGA brand.
‘For ten years I’ve been cooking and building restaurants in D.C. I’ve focused on farm to table food, natural wines and the type of “back to the earth” cuisine that can be a hard sell,’ he noted. ‘As a result my audience has mostly been a certain type of young urban hipster or Berkeley fashioned older hippy types.’
‘In the past year and a half I’ve seen an uptick in younger right wing customers who are asking for bone marrow, organ meats, organic vegetables and sulpher-free wines,’ he observed.
A former and future Trump White House aide said one of the White House adjacent bars could become the Trump 2.0 team’s hotspot, including Bottom Line, a dive bar that’s been a D.C. establishment for decades
The White House aide also mentioned Union Trust, which opened up in 2017 and is a new favorite among the downtown happy hour crowd. The aide said hangouts may just come down to convenience, with Union Trust a block and a half away from the White House
The White House aide who spoke to DailyMail.com said that the Trump 2.0 hangouts may just come down to convenience.
One of the reasons Trump’s hotel was such a gathering place for staff was it’s location. It’s why the Waldorf Astoria continues to draw a pro-Trump crowd.
‘It is so convenient, it’s just like right there,’ the Trump aide said.
The source mentioned a number of bars surrounding the White House too that could end up being ground zero for White House staff – including the old school dive bar the Bottom Line, the newer Union Trust and then he anticipated, like during the first Trump term, aides and allies would head to Navy Yard.
The Navy Yard neighborhood – that surrounds D.C.’s ballpark – became the place that many of Trump’s staffers moved during his first term.
‘What some people fail to realize is our Fridays are f***ing tough. You know what I mean? You go home, you’re like, I want to get out of this suit, let’s just go to one of these bars,’ the aide said.
There, the aide said, the Brogan-owned Mission and Royal Sands are popular options. Royal Sands, in particular, looks like an indoor swimming pool and is Florida-themed – which might attract a number of members of Trump’s incoming team.
Kate Andersen Brower, the author of The Residence and other books on D.C. institutions, suggested that the MAGA crowd may ditch Washington for the city’s ritzier suburbs, specifically the McLean area of Virginia.
A Trump White House aide pointed to Mission Navy Yard as a potential place White House aides and allies will gather on the weekends, as many of the younger staffers picked the Navy Yard neighborhood as their place of residence
She pointed out that D.C. and the Maryland suburbs voted for Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, while Virginia is governed by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Trump ally.
‘Look at the percentages in D.C. who voted for Trump versus Kamala: huge. So I think that there’ll be more in like the McLean, Virginia area,’ she told DailyMail.com.
Three weeks after Trump’s election win, Youngkin filmed a video aimed at staffers relocating to the area.
‘I want to personally invite you to make Virginia your home,’ Youngkin said.
But even bumping out to the burbs may not make life easier, Brower pointed out, as many federal workers live there too – and Trump, along with Department of Government Efficiency advisers Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, have pledged widespread cuts.
Firing doesn’t make for good friendships.
‘His promises to cut a bunch of federal government workers, when so many of them live in the suburbs, will only make it harder,’ Brower pointed out.
‘People are really worried about their jobs. I mean, I’m sure you have friends in the government who aren’t sure what they’re going to do, and it’s a scary time, and so I don’t think they’ll be very welcome.’
