While President Donald Trump was meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, some of Trump’s White House aides retired to Mar-a-Lago’s Library Bar, told the bartender to leave so they could talk in private, and consumed 54 drinks costing a total of $1076, Pro Publica reports today. The Secret Service guarded the door, preventing the bartender from returning.
Among the beverages consumed: Chopin vodka, Patron and Don Julio Blanco tequilas and Woodford Reserve bourbon.
According to an email from Mar-a-Lago Catering Director Brooke Watson to Dee Lilly at the State Department, Pro Publica said, Steve Bannon and then-deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin were among the participants.
The State Department objected to paying the bill and sent it to the White House, which paid it. It’s not known if the White House asked the drinkers to reimburse the bill.