Time at Mar
When  President Donald Trump  sat down with a reporter for a wide-ranging  30-minute interview at his private golf club here Thursday  not a single aide or adviser was present at the table - and not a single aide or adviser knew about it in advance.
The interview was enabled by Christopher Ruddy - a club member with a level of personal access to the president in Florida that rankles White House staff. He invited New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt as his personal guest to lunch at Trump International Golf Club  strategically ensured they were seated near  Trump 's regular table and brought the reporter over to meet the president  who was still in his golf clothes.
As word trickled back to the White House  advisers worked to reach the president  with  Trump 's personal aide interrupting at one point to hand him a cellphone with White House communicators director Hope Hicks on the line  who checked in on the interview from afar.
Mar-a-Lago - Trump's manicured  gilded oceanfront retreat here - is the president's "Winter White House " the villa to which he escapes for rounds of golf and family time. But  to the chagrin of many aides  Mar-a-Lago is also the place where  Trump  is often  his  most unrestrained and unfettered  making it harder for  his  West Wing staff to control  his  daily media diet and personal contacts as they now try to do in Washington.
Inside the White House  aides filter what information gets to  Trump  and who meets with  him   trying to prevent rash or uninformed decisions. They often monitor  his  call logs  with Chief of Staff John Kelly  who often listens in on calls  telling people to go through  him  when they want to speak to the president.
White House officials said they appreciate that time at Mar-a-Lago is a respite for  Trump   a familiar and comfortable haven for  him  to recharge while surrounded by family and friends. The president often gets less riled up by the sorts of stray comments on cable news that  back in Washington  might prompt an angry tweet or rejoinder  one added. Mar-a-Lago is not necessarily a panacea for angry tweets -  Trump  has fired off a few agitated messages since arriving in Florida.
All presidents have worked to escape the constraining bubble of Washington. When former president Barack Obama  near the end of his presidency  occasionally slipped the gates of the White House  he would joke that "the bear is loose." Yet by that metaphor  Mar-a-Lago has become a veritable ursine playground  with  Trump  starring in the role of chief grizzly - calling outside advisers and confidants  while playing both host and inquisitor to his wealthy members.
Mar-a-Lago  said Roger Stone  a former  Trump  campaign adviser and longtime friend of the president  "allows  Trump  to be  Trump ."
"Nobody tells  Donald Trump  where  he  can and cannot go " Stone said. "The president is able to get a lot of information that is normally blocked from getting to him ... You don't have the minders. There is no doubt that he makes more calls."
Instead   Trump  now sets up "a virtual rope line " said Ruddy â the chief executive of Newsmax  a conservative media company â where friends like he  Marvel chairman Ike Perlmutter and local restaurant owner Lee Lipton come to say hello.
 Trump   for instance  recently chatted with Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman for 30 minutes after dining with son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka Trump  according to people familiar with the meeting.
Since becoming president  members' access to  Trump  has tightened  said Shannon Donnelly  society editor of the Palm Beach Daily News. "It is one of the places where he can relax a little bit  but not anybody can just go up and talk to him at Mar-a-Lago " she said  before adding  "Unless he sees you and motions for you to come over for him."
 Trump  often asks guests about foreign affairs or legislative accomplishments and solicits what they think of certain aides or how the White House is doing. Earlier this year   Trump  probed members about the Paris climate accord and North Korea  one person familiar with his questions said. He has quizzed Mar-a-Lago guests  alternately  on the performance of former chief of staff Reince Priebus and former White House press secretary Sean Spicer  his news coverage  their opinions of Congress and his rally performances  according to several advisers.
When   [TGT] sat down with a reporter for a wide-ranging  30-minute interview at his private golf club here Thursday  not a single aide or adviser was present at the table - and not a single aide or adviser knew about it in advance.
The interview was enabled by Christopher Ruddy - a club member with a level of personal access to the president in Florida that rankles White House staff. He invited New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt as his personal guest to lunch at Trump International Golf Club  strategically ensured they were seated near   [TGT]  's regular table and brought the reporter over to meet the president  who was still in his golf clothes.
As word trickled back to the White House  advisers worked to reach  [TGT] with  Trump 's personal aide interrupting at one point to hand him a cellphone with White House communicators director Hope Hicks on the line  who checked in on the interview from afar.
Mar-a-Lago - Trump's manicured  gilded oceanfront retreat here - is the president's "Winter White House " the villa to which he escapes for rounds of golf and family time. But  to the chagrin of many aides  Mar-a-Lago is also the place where  Trump  is often  his  most unrestrained and unfettered  making it harder for  his  West Wing staff to control  his  daily media diet and personal contacts as they now try to do in Washington.
Inside the White House  aides filter what information gets to  Trump  and who meets with  him   trying to prevent rash or uninformed decisions. They often monitor  his  call logs  with Chief of Staff John Kelly  who often listens in on calls  telling people to go through  him  when they want to speak to the president.
White House officials said they appreciate that time at Mar-a-Lago is a respite for  Trump   a familiar and comfortable haven for  him  to recharge while surrounded by family and friends. The president often gets less riled up by the sorts of stray comments on cable news that  back in Washington  might prompt an angry tweet or rejoinder  one added. Mar-a-Lago is not necessarily a panacea for angry tweets -  Trump  has fired off a few agitated messages since arriving in Florida.
All presidents have worked to escape the constraining bubble of Washington. When former president Barack Obama  near the end of his presidency  occasionally slipped the gates of the White House  he would joke that "the bear is loose." Yet by that metaphor  Mar-a-Lago has become a veritable ursine playground  with  Trump  starring in the role of chief grizzly - calling outside advisers and confidants  while playing both host and inquisitor to his wealthy members.
Mar-a-Lago  said Roger Stone  a former  Trump  campaign adviser and longtime friend of the president  "allows  Trump  to be  Trump ."
"Nobody tells  Donald Trump  where  he  can and cannot go " Stone said. "The president is able to get a lot of information that is normally blocked from getting to him ... You don't have the minders. There is no doubt that he makes more calls."
Instead   Trump  now sets up "a virtual rope line " said Ruddy â the chief executive of Newsmax  a conservative media company â where friends like he  Marvel chairman Ike Perlmutter and local restaurant owner Lee Lipton come to say hello.
 Trump   for instance  recently chatted with Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman for 30 minutes after dining with son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka Trump  according to people familiar with the meeting.
Since becoming president  members' access to  Trump  has tightened  said Shannon Donnelly  society editor of the Palm Beach Daily News. "It is one of the places where he can relax a little bit  but not anybody can just go up and talk to him at Mar-a-Lago " she said  before adding  "Unless he sees you and motions for you to come over for him."
 Trump  often asks guests about foreign affairs or legislative accomplishments and solicits what they think of certain aides or how the White House is doing. Earlier this year   Trump  probed members about the Paris climate accord and North Korea  one person familiar with his questions said. He has quizzed Mar-a-Lago guests  alternately  on the performance of former chief of staff Reince Priebus and former White House press secretary Sean Spicer  his news coverage  their opinions of Congress and his rally performances  according to several advisers.