The Grifter's Club

Trump, Mar-a-Lago, and the Selling of the Presidency

By: Sarah Blaskey, Nicholas Nehamas, Caitlin Ostroff, Jay Weaver

Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan

Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

An astonishing look inside the gilded gates of Mar-a-Lago, the palatial resort where President Trump conducts government business with little regard for ethics, security, or even the law.

Donald Trump's opulent Palm Beach club Mar-a-Lago has thrummed with scandal since the earliest days of his presidency. Long known for its famous and wealthy clientele, the resort's guest list soon started filling with political operatives and power-seekers. Meanwhile, as Trump rebranded Mar-a-Lago "the Winter White House" and began spending weekends there, state business spilled out into full view of the club's members, and vast sums of taxpayer money and political donations began flowing into its coffers and into the pockets of the president.

The Grifter's Club is a breakthrough account of the impropriety, intrigue, and absurdity that has been on display in the place where the president is at his most relaxed. In this audiobook, a team of prizewinning Miami Herald journalists reveal the activities and motivations of the strange array of charlatans and tycoons who populate its halls. Some peddle influence, some seek inside information, and some just want to soak up the feeling of unfettered access to the world's most powerful leaders.

With the drama of an expose and the edgy humor of a Carl Hiaasen novel, The Grifter's Club takes you behind the velvet ropes of this exclusive club and into its bizarre world of extravagance and scandal.

©2020 Sarah Blaskey, Nicholas Nehamas, Caitlin Ostroff, and Jay Weaver (P)2020 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"The Grifter's Club is an illuminating, funny, and often outrageous peek behind the walls of Mar-a-Lago in the time of Trump. The stuffy elite of Palm Beach will merely be mortified, but hard-working taxpayers will be incensed." (Carl Hiaasen)

Audio reader is terrible.

It's an interesting read. I enjoyed the author's take on things. But the reader is the worst I have ever heard, with an annoying sing-song delivery. He puts the emphasis in the wrong place, and mispronounces many words. Hard to listen to.

An inside look at the oddities

The Grifter’s Club is a fun and uniquely interesting looking inside the halls of financial and political influence of the Trump administration. It takes you through the odd and all too nefarious tales of how those with zero qualifications and zero good intentions have managed to influence key US policy both domestically and abroad. It’s a fun read.

Trump's circus and his monkeys

There were so many moments in this book that made me do a double take at the crazy that is the "Winter White House." Mar-a-Lago serves as both Trump's permanent residence and a private club for the billionaire class and the "remora" that feed off of them. This book is a glimpse into a world most of us will never have access to or can even imagine. The writing is witty and often comical, even if the content is sometimes alarming. One thing is for sure, being president has provided Trump certain financial advantages that presidents before him didn't have, thanks in large part to Mar-a-Lago. Was it legal? Maybe. Sometimes. Probably not.

Just wow!! :-(

It’s kind of like you know what’s going on but then you hear it like this and it just makes you even more mad. We have got to get these grifters out of the White House. And I mean right now!

Rare book about Trump’s BS that is actually enjoyable.

Great narrator, just the right amount of irony/humor to keep one’s attention. Appreciated the telling!! Good read.

Awesome Listen

This is a great listen to get more of an idea of Trump’s character. He is exactly as the media portrays. Someone who says what he wants, does what he wants, with no strategy besides to enjoy himself and achieve some opportunistic goals in the end. Trump loves to cut costs, rewrite history, and take money from just about anyone that will give it to him and it shows in his lack of security at Mar a Lago and shady associates that he will deny connection with once there are some raised eyebrows and/or a shortage of cash. Do we really want someone so opportunistic and unscrupulous running the USA? We’re on track to be just another one of Trump’s leveraged assets that will be for sale to the next most convenient entity (local or foreign) that comes along.

Totally slanted

A hit job on Trump. Why is surprising that he hangs around wealthy people? It is so biased. I live on Palm Beach and although the facts may be true the presentation is biased

Great title

Trump family grifters, love it. A good source of what that family and administration was all about. everyone should read it.

Fascinating and Gross

A pretty interesting foray into the role of Mar a Lago in this Administration. I found the description of events to be pretty even handed. The author is not just out to show salacious misdeeds. That said the author definitely does not shy away from addressing some of the gross violations of the public trust that have taken place there. Ever wonder how or why a sitting US President would lower that office by meeting face to face with Kim Jong Un? Ever wonder why the Trump boys were in Mongolia shooting endangered sheep? The bizarre and gross answers are at Mar a Lago.

The book meanders in spots and the central thesis of the book could be stronger. But all in all, well worth the time to learn about the fascinating, if gross, backdrop that is behind some of the more bizarre events in this Administration.

Astonishing

I’m sure people realize that Trump attracted people trying to curry favor with him. A very detailed account of the people of Palm Beach and their new Club that they can flaunt their wealth too. Interesting reading and life of the very very rich!🤑