'Heavily vetted': No 'Bush-era Republicans' welcome in Trump Jr.'s new MAGA safe space

26 May

Donald Trump Jr., Image via Shutterstock

President Donald Trump's eldest son, Donald Jr., is opening a new exclusive club in Washington D.C. And he's making it clear that only a certain kind of Republican is welcome.

The Daily Beast reported Monday that the new club, which will be called "Executive Branch," is tailor-made for the MAGA crowd — and its founders are making it clear that traditional conservatives and journalists will be barred from entering. David Sacks, who the Beast described as Trump's "crypto czar," told the New York Times he wants to make sure that the type of conservatives who frequent other GOP-oriented D.C. clubs will be turned away at the door.

“To the extent there are Republican clubs, they tend to be like more Bush-era Republicans as opposed to Trump-era Republicans,” hSacks said. “So we wanted to create something new, hipper, and Trump-aligned.”

Aside from Trump Jr. and Sacks, other major investors in the club include Alex and Zach Witkoff (the sons of Trump administration Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff) along with investment banker Omeed Malik (who has separate business ventures with Trump Jr.) and Chris Buskirk, who cofounded the right-wing tech donor group "Rockbridge Network" with Vice President JD Vance. The founders will also be hands-on in approving would-be members.

"[P]rospective members of the club have to be heavily vetted and approved by its founders," a spokesperson for Executive Branch told CNBC.

Membership fees may run as high as $500,000, in addition to an annual fee. And the spokesperson made it clear that the club was meant to serve as a safe haven for Trump in the event he doesn't want to fly all the way back to Mar-a-Lago in order to be around fellow travelers.

“We want people to feel comfortable having conversations in privacy," the spokesperson said, stressing that the media and corporate lobbyists would be blocked from the club's premises.

Click here to read the Beast's article in full, and click here to read the Times' full report (subscriptions required).

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