President Donald Trump dropped in on a nearby wedding reception at his Mar-a-Lago club Saturday, underway in its Grand Ballroom. For years, this might have been a normal occurrence.
But now? The now-President had just worked closely with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to evaluate news that North Korea had launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile.
Entering the ornate room, Trump took a photo with the bride and her bridesmaids, who posed in red gowns next to the commander in chief, mimicking his signature thumbs-up.
Then he grabbed a microphone.
“I saw them out on the lawn today,” Trump said of the bride and groom Saturday, who were standing nearby. “I said to the Prime Minister of Japan, I said, ‘C’mon Shinzo, let’s go over and say hello.’ “
“They’ve been members of this club for a long time,” Trump said of the newlyweds. “They’ve paid me a fortune.”
Trump designed and built the space himself after purchasing Mar-a-Lago in the 1980s.
The visit came after Trump and Abe, who was at the Mar-a-Lago on a visit with Trump, delivered short remarks.
Standing in front of an American and Japanese flag, a stern-faced Abe called the launch “absolutely intolerable,” and insisted North Korea adhere to United Nations Security Council resolutions barring it from testing of ballistic missiles.
Trump, in his short remarks, didn’t mention the launch. He used a short statement to vow support for Japan instead.