Donald Trump wants to crush The Swamp. The leaks, the sneaks, and the secrets are all there. Our writers, David Gardner, Farrah Tomazin, and Sarah Ewall-Wice, are sifting through the ooze so you don’t have to. Don’t miss out.
In this week’s news from the ooze…
Mark Geragos, Marla Maples, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Dina Powell McCormick, Lally Weymouth, Hunter Biden, Marco Rubio, Melania Trump, Marjorie Merriweather Post, Condoleezza Rice, Mike Ambrosini, Stephen Miran, Julia Letlow, Vivian Motzfeldt, George W. Bush, and Hannah Bronfman.
Melania, Melania, Let Down Your Highlighted Hair
The Swamp has been on a ‘Where’s Waldo?’ mission to discover the whereabouts of the elusive first lady, and we have tracked her down to an eyebrow-raising part of Mar-a-Lago.
Like a princess in a tower, Melania Trump is counting down the days of her husband’s second term, hidden away in one of the most-watched homes in the world.
Just because the couple is back to sharing an address, don’t assume they share an ensuite bathroom. According to insiders, Trump makes his bedroom in the private family quarters on the sprawling 20-acre estate, while Melania prefers to sleep in the distinctive 75-ft tower made of coquina and concrete. The tower’s unusual design is said to pull in the ocean breezes, creating a passive cooling system, which draws hot air up and out of the building.
Built by Marjorie Merriweather Post between 1924 and 1927, the tower began as an architectural statement before being turned over to bedrooms. The president’s son, Eric Trump, remembers playing there as a child.
Melania was thought to be living at Trump Tower, but she changed her permanent residence to the Mediterranean-style Trump resort in October 2025, according to forms filed with the Palm Beach County Circuit Court.
Locals in Palm Beach say the first lady is never seen out and about in tony Palm Beach. Of course, the only time the president ventures outside the gates of the waterside estate is to play golf.
No doubt she’s been holed up watching clips from her upcoming documentary, the Brett Ratner-directed Melania, which is released on Amazon Prime on January 30. From her vantage point, looking across Palm Beach, she can at least be warned when her husband’s heading home, along the newly named President Donald J. Trump Boulevard.
And pull up her hair.
Marla’s Advice to Calm the F*** Down
It’s not just Melania. Marla Maples has also been spending more time at Mar-a-Lago, so maybe she can help her ex-hubbie with a cure for his insomnia and nighttime social media habit. Marla leaves her phones outside the bedroom, for a start, because, as she told The Spectator, “the electromagnetic fields can constantly trigger our minds.” Waking at sunrise, she wanders out onto her balcony overlooking the Atlantic and lets “the morning light wash over my face and regenerate my cells.” Then she goes back inside to “squeeze half a lemon into warm water, add sea salt and a little baking soda, my sunrise tonic before prayer and deeper meditation.” What is her prayer? “To be a light to all those I meet and that those who are not meant to be on this path with me drift away with grace and ease,” Maples says. Whoever could she mean?
Will Chris LaCivita Get to Party With Hunter?
Chris “FAFO” LaCivita‘s decision to settle his lawsuit with the Daily Beast without getting an apology, a retraction, or the “compensatory,” “punitive” and “triple damages” he had demanded, has left some unanswered questions in its wake—especially for the Republican National Committee, which bankrolled the lawsuit. What you may wonder, was that about? An RNC official told The Swamp that it “indemnified” LaCivita as it does other staff and office-holders. They had done that for targets of Jack Smith‘s special counsel investigation, and of Congress’ January 6 committee, the official claimed. But that’s hardly the same as funneling more than $650,000 to the law firm of Hunter Biden‘s old lawyer, Mark Geragos to allow LaCivita to sue the Beast.
The Swamp asked the RNC for examples of other staff and office-holders who’d been funded to sue the media. So far, crickets. And another big question not getting an answer: When exactly did LaCivita stop being chief of staff of the RNC? We only ask because in January 2025, it promoted Mike Ambrosini to be chief of staff then trumpeted his new job to Fox News’ Brooke Singman the next month. Then in LaCivita’s March 2025 lawsuit, he said he “is” the RNC chief of staff. Are there two chiefs of staff? The Swamp asked the RNC’s communications director Zach Parkinson what’s going on but so far, he’s been tight-lipped. And finally, will Geragos invite LaCivita to one of his famously lavish Los Angeles parties? He and Hunter might have some things to talk about…
JD Is Not Ad-Vancing
While the world is watching and waiting for Trump’s next move in the Great Greenland Grab, Marco Rubio is joining his boss in Davos, Switzerland, to face off America’s European allies, while JD Vance is being shipped off to Toledo, Ohio, on Thursday to visit an “industrial shipping facility.” Vance made a belated attempt to get in on the action last week by hijacking Rubio’s White House meeting with Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland’s foreign minister, Vivian Motzfeldt, but it was a disaster and ended with no agreement. We’re told that Rubio was irritated at being elbowed aside, and Trump was equally unimpressed by the subsequent impasse. A White House insider said Rubio’s calm, supportive role in the Venezuelan operation and his steadfast backing of Trump over Greenland have seen him leapfrog Vance in Trump’s estimation. Which explains why Little Rubio is now a big noise in the administration on the plane to Davos, and Vance can’t get off the couch.
Changing of the Guard
One of the big-ticket lunches at Davos will have a new look this year. Washington Post journalist and socialite Lally Weymouth used to host an annual power lunch, so when she died in September 2025, it left an opening. Stepping into the breach will be Dina Powell McCormick (née Habib), who was just named Meta’s president and vice chairman. McCormick is a former deputy national security advisor to Trump, who left after a year. She also served as a senior White House advisor and assistant secretary of state for Condoleezza Rice under President George W. Bush. She is also a dear friend of Ivanka’s, having worked together in the White House in the first administration. The ex-Goldman Sachs exec and wife of Republican Sen. Dave McCormick said in her first interview that she believes AI is bringing about a “transformation in humanity.” It’s certainly bringing about a transformation in lunching.
SPOTTED Stephen Miran, the latest member of the Fed’s board of trustees, taking time off from plotting the demise of Chairman Jerome Powell to visit Kimberly Guilfoyle in Greece.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino is taking a break from writing the president’s X posts to celebrate his 50th birthday with staff and fiancée Erin Elmore at the White House. Kamala Harris’ niece, Meena visiting her aunt’s old Capitol Hill stomping ground with a group of moms to meet with lawmakers about the Black maternal mortality crisis and to lobby for paid family leave. She was joined by bestselling author Anna Malaika Tubbs and Seagram’s heiress-turned-influencer and entrepreneur Hannah Bronfman. Kerry Kennedy and her daughter Kerry Kennedy-Cuomo at Davos talking human rights.
Paying Bill Back
Sucking up to Trump gets you nowhere if you’ve already gone against him once. Just ask Sen. Bill Cassidy. The GOP Louisiana senator voted to confirm every single Cabinet nominee last year, including Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., despite expressing deep skepticism over the MAHA fanatic’s stance on vaccines. The GOP senator and physician has bent over backward for a year now as he tried to soothe feathers even as Kennedy confirmed Cassidy’s fears and repeatedly undermines public health and vaccinations. In the end, it did not matter because the only loyalty Trump cares about is loyalty to him and his grudges don’t expire. Over the weekend, Trump endorsed Cassidy’s GOP primary opponent in Louisiana, Julia Letlow, before her official launch, sticking it to the Republican senator who once voted to convict him in his second impeachment. Maybe Cassidy can raise funds by auctioning off a used pair of kneepads?
Hunter Who? Don Jr.’s Companies Cash In
The Trump family has made billions in the second Trump administration, but companies that put the president’s son Don Jr. on their boards are also seeing benefits. Unusual Machines, Credova, and BlinxRx all added the eldest Trump son to their boards after the 2024 presidential election, despite his having zero expertise in their industries. It’s paying off, noted the government watchdog CREW. Since padding their board, Drone maker Unusual Machines became a U.S. Army supplier. After appointing Trump Jr. to thePublicSquare board, the CFPB closed a yearslong investigation into the subsidiary Credova. Last year, Junior also joined the board of BlinxRx, which could directly benefit from Trump’s push for manufacturers to sell prescription drugs directly to consumers. Don, have you heard of a company called Burisma?
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