President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are spending Christmas at their Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
In between rounds of golf at the nearby Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, the president announced a new “Trump-class” of ships, called service members to wish them a merry Christmas, and spoke to children while tracking Santa Claus’ journey from the North Pole.
He also commented on the Jeffrey Epstein files for the first time since the Justice Department released images and documents on December 19 as part of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The Christmas holiday marks Trump’s 16th visit to Mar-a-Lago in 2025. He is expected to remain in Palm Beach through January 4.
Take a look at Mar-a-Lago’s lavish Christmas celebrations.
President Donald Trump arrived in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 20.
The president flew to Palm Beach on Air Force One after holding a rally in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. First lady Melania Trump did not appear to be traveling with him.
On December 21, he played golf at his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
The golf club is located around 4.5 miles from Mar-a-Lago.
He announced the creation of a “Trump-class” of ships for the US Navy’s “Golden Fleet” on December 22.
Joined by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump said that the “Trump-class” would eventually include 20 to 25 ships.
Phelan said the first of these ships to be built will be the USS Defiant, an 880-foot-long, heavily armed battleship with a crew of 850. Some of its planned weaponry is still in development, such as the Sea-Launched Cruise Missile-Nuclear, or SLCM-N.
At the press conference, Trump also addressed the Epstein files for the first time since they were officially released on December 19.
Trump acknowledged that he appeared in photos released by the Justice Department, saying that Epstein “was all over Palm Beach and other places.”
“What this whole thing is with Epstein is a way of trying to deflect from the tremendous success that the Republican Party has,” he said.
He returned for more rounds of golf on December 23.
Donald Trump rode through Palm Beach in “The Beast,” the armored presidential limousine.
On Christmas Eve, he and first lady Melania Trump called US service members stationed around the world to wish them a merry Christmas.
Trump thanked service members for their “extraordinary devotion and service to America” and touted his $1,776 “warrior dividend” bonus checks sent to military members ahead of Christmas.
They then fielded calls from children while tracking Santa Claus’ journey from the North Pole with the NORAD Santa Tracker.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command, which tracks aircraft flying over North America, playfully tracked Santa Claus’ sleigh across the skies for the 70th year.
The president and first lady answered calls from children across the US inquiring about Santa’s movements, gifts, and cookie preferences.
When an 8-year-old girl in Kansas told Trump she hoped Santa wouldn’t bring her coal, the president replied, “You mean clean, beautiful coal?”
“I had to do that, I’m sorry,” he told members of the press.
The day ended with a Christmas Eve dinner in Mar-a-Lago’s gilded Grand Ballroom.
Trump moved gold angel statues from the ceiling of Mar-a-Lago’s Grand Ballroom to the doorways in the Oval Office, which he has redecorated to more closely resemble the gold-covered walls of his Palm Beach estate.
Trump sat with Melania Trump and her father at a table cordoned off by velvet ropes.
That night, Trump shared a holiday message on Truth Social.
“Merry Christmas to all, including the Radical Left Scum that is doing everything possible to destroy our Country, but are failing badly,” he wrote.
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