New York Times reporter Katie Rogers is a kind of pop-social reporter in D.C. in the Trump era, and has little love for the people she covers. Rogers made the front page of Saturday’s edition with some snarky that seems a few months past its sell-by date: “Trump Hotel by Night: Lobbyists, $60 Steaks.”
One would think sophisticated big-city Times editors would know $60 isn’t really all that much to pay for a steak in D.C. But it’s a small price to pay for a dig at Trump, apparently. Rogers was far kinder to Chelsea Clinton in April, in a celebration of the privileged president’s daughter and her...Twitter feed.
The text box: “A veritable ‘Make America Great Again’ theme park, slick with marble.” The rest of this front-page “news story” that belongs more in the Style section is just as contemptuous.
If you can’t tweak Trump for supposedly expensive steaks, you can tweak his son for eating low-end comfort food. This was the revealing lead:
It was nearing midnight at the Trump International Hotel, and the president’s son was eating macaroni and cheese.
Enveloped in the smooth tones of jazzy hotel music, soft light from a million tiny chandelier crystals and the scent of candied bacon, Eric Trump, fresh from a rally this month in West Virginia, declined a question from a reporter and instead posed one of his own.
“Is everything perfect?” he asked, much like an attentive concierge.
From the Trump family’s point of view, how could it not be?
In this first tumultuous summer of the Trump administration, the hotel has cemented its status as a gathering spot for prominent conservatives and a place for the president’s supporters to see, be seen and curry favor with people in power, one $24 chocolate cigar at a time. (The selfies are free.)
The hotel -- a melting pot for Trump family members, Trump surrogates, tourists, YouTube celebrities, journalists and the occasional white nationalist -- has earned that status in no small part because it is home to the only Washington restaurant that President Trump visits.
His company also earns a cut -- about $20 million over 15 months, according to financial disclosure forms -- which has outraged ethics experts and led to various lawsuits, including one filed in January against the Trump administration by a group of lawyers. They accused the president of violating the Constitution by allowing his hotels and other businesses to accept payments from foreign governments.
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But for those who are happy to spend money here, the hotel, dripping in crystals, slicked with marble and upholstered in blue velvet, feels a bit like a “Make America Great Again” theme park.
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There is a giant American flag hanging among chandeliers. Four large TV screens over the bar offer sports, stocks, more sports and Fox News. And frequent trills of a bell indicate that someone has opened a bottle of champagne with a saber -- an activity recently enjoyed by Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary. He used to live in the hotel.
Up one marble staircase is BLT Prime by David Burke, a lamplit steakhouse overlooking the lobby. For the cost of a $60 cut of beef -- not including appetizers, sides or drinks -- any visitor can eat like the president, who most recently visited in late July.
This from a liberal newspaper that nonetheless dream fuel for the high-end living of its wealthy liberal readership. Previously, the NYT’s Ezra Dyer reviewed the new Ferrari FF in June 2012: "Family Travel at the $300,000 Price Point." The lead to that story: "Imagine you are heading to your ski house in Aspen with a couple of friends and a weekend’s worth of luggage. The forecast calls for snow. Do you grab the keys to your practical family vehicle or climb into your Ferrari?"
Rogers wasn't done mocking the conspicious consumption and eating habits of both Trump and visitors to his hotel.
Waiters say the commander in chief prefers a well-done Kansas City-cut steak, a Bible-thick slab of meat that is wheeled over on a large trolley stocked with tiny cups of ketchup. Visitors can wash it down with a $16 Manhattan Tea Party cocktail or -- if the waiter is successful with his upcharge pitch -- a $150 glass of Louis XIII cognac. A $22 cheesecake lollipop tree comes with a dollop of bubble gum whipped cream that feels more like putty and tastes not unlike dental fluoride. It is a best-seller.
Rogers piggybacked on top of Politico’s tipsheet to find the worst person she could, that had stepped into the Trump hotel.
Linger long enough in the lobby, late enough at night, and you will almost always see the safe zone in action.
Stephen Miller, a senior White House adviser, dropped by this month with Nigel Farage, the former leader of the U.K. Independence Party, according to a local tipsheet curated by Politico. Among those who spotted the pair was Evan McClaren, a white nationalist who was at the hotel with Richard B. Spencer, another white nationalist.
“Place to be,” Mr. McClaren wrote on Twitter of the sighting.
Mr. McClaren declined to answer phone calls or emails asking about his trip to the hotel. He said he was too busy planning a rally in Charlottesville, Va.
Rogers also snarked excessively and tastelessly last week about the “lavish lifestyle” of Louise Linton, the wife of Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, as documented on Linton’s Instagram feed:
....in the time it took her to type out an Instagram screed, Louise Linton transformed herself from the Treasury secretary’s wife to a Real Housewife of the Treasury....Ms. Linton is not the first woman associated with Mr. Trump to earn a comparison to Marie Antoinette. As protests erupted around the country over her father’s proposed travel ban in January, an Instagram photo of Ivanka Trump wearing a silver dress was quickly dubbed the “let them eat cake” photograph. Ms. Linton also is not the only woman in the president’s orbit who is dripping in diamonds and draped in Chanel. But she is the first to be bluntly unapologetic about her luxurious lifestyle, one that affords her a comfortable, swan-shaped perch to view the country’s infighting.
