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Trump's Butler: Don't Bother The "King" If He's Wearing Red
By
Emma Whitford
Published Mar 15, 2016
Modified Mar 15, 2016
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By
Emma Whitford
Published Mar 15, 2016
Modified Mar 15, 2016
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When he's not egging on his most violent supporters and amassing wage-theft lawsuits, Donald Trump migrates south to Mar-a-Lago, a 118-room "Mediterranean-style manse" in Palm Beach where his long-time and apparently deeply appreciative butler maintains a blissful equilibrium of rock-hard steaks and bundles of print newspapers.
The Times toured Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate with 74-year-old Anthony Senecal recently, who noted, “You can always tell when the king is here."
The "king" also enjoys peeling $100 bills from his pocket wad and handing them to an appreciative garden staff: "You're a Hispanic and you're in here trimming the trees and everything, and a guy walks up and hands you a hundred dollars... and they love him, not for that, they just love him."
A few more gems from the elderly butler who Trump apparently loves too much to let out of his sight ("Tony, to retire is to expire").
- Senecal recalls how Trump's father, Fred Trump, once stepped out of his limo at the estate and remarked "Somebody better get that coin," prompting Senecal to get down on his hands and knees to retrieve a penny from the gravel.
- There's a salon on the estate, but Trump insists on doing his own hair.
- Trump gets about four hours of sleep a night.
- One time, years ago, Senecal was warned that Trump was in a "sour" mood, and hired a bugler to play "Hail to the Chief" as he stepped out of his limo.
- Trump's hat color signals his mood: "If the cap was white, the staff noticed, the boss was in a good mood. If it was red, it was best to stay away."
- Marjorie Merriweather Post, the cereal heiress who built the mansion 90 years ago, bent the nearby airport to her will, insuring that airplanes skirted around her property. Trump hasn't been able to swing the same privilege, and is currently suing the airport.
- There's a portrait of The Donald in the library-turned-bar at Mar-a-Lago, posing in tennis whites.
- On a recent Sunday afternoon, Trump passed through the living room on his way to the golf course, in front of Senecal and a reporter from the paper of record. The former called "All rise!" and everyone rose.
Senecal also appeared on CNN last week to defend his employer, the "incredibly generous person," but we'd rather sign off with this flashback to 2013, when Trump was more amusing than threatening and Senecal was packing his suitcase for The Apprentice and not The White House.
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Emma Whitford
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