Magats_Love_NHB
Let It Burn!
Trump Official's 'Embarrassing' Comparison of French Palace to Mar-a-Lago Baffles Users: 'Like Comparing McDonald's With Michelin Restaurants'
"This is a man who given the choice would choose the Venetian in Las Vegas over Venice"
Trump Official's 'Embarrassing' Comparison of French Palace to Mar-a-Lago Baffles Users: 'Like Comparing McDonald's With Michelin Restaurants'
Steve Witkoff compared the French Élysée Palace to Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in a meeting in France on Friday, inspiring cringes of secondhand embarrassment.
www.latintimes.com
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff (2nd L), Deputy Chief of Mission David McCawley (3rd L), the second-in-command at the US Embassy in Paris, and Germany national security advisor Jens Ploetner (L) at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris on April 17, 2025. Witkoff compared the room in the historic French palace to President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Resort. Ludovic Marin/Getty Images
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff compared the French Élysée Palace to Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in a meeting with European officials in Paris on Friday, inspiring many social media users to cringe with secondhand embarrassment.
Home to French President Emmanuel Macron and built in 1718, the Élysée Palace first housed the French Republic in 1848, when Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte moved in. The walls of the Ambassadors Room—where the French government hosts foreign diplomats like Witkoff—are shrouded in ornate gold leafing, with a gold and crystal chandelier from the late 1700's hanging from the ceiling.
"You know what this looks like?" Witkoff asked the men seated beside and across him beneath the chandelier. "This actually looks like President Trump's club at Mar-a-Lago."
"Really?" asked German national security advisor Jens Ploetner as he raised his eyebrows amidst polite chuckles.
The Mar-a-Lago Trump ballroom is recognizable as the backdrop in this US Department of Justice photo revealing stacks of boxes containing classified documents discovered at the Mar-a-Lago resort during a now dismissed 37-felony count case against President Donald Trump following his first term. DOJ via Getty Images
"It's fabulous what it looks like. He actually works on it himself," Witkoff continued, referring to Trump. "He's like an architect or a designer."
Trump's Midas-touch in decorating is well-documented, with his resort at Mar-a-Lago a prime example. Originally built in 1927, Trump converted the Florida mansion to an exclusive members-only resort in the nineties. In the Trump ballroom, added by its namesake in 2005, similar gold leafing adorns white walls and ceilings dripping with chandeliers.
Salon des Ambassadeurs at Élysée Palace in Paris, France (right). The Donald J. Trump Ballroom at Trump Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida. Elysee.fr; Trump via Instagram
On social media, users mocked Witkoff for the presumptive comparison.
Many illustrated the clumsiness of Witkoff's comparison with their own analogies.
"This is a man who given the choice would choose the Venetian in Las Vegas over Venice," a user wrote. "Like comparing the Disney Castle with actual castles," said another, with someone else positing that, "Americans don't know the difference between a Disney set-piece and something real."
Embarrassment was a major theme among commenters.
"That room is older than his whole country... That's soooo embarassing, AND rude," one commenter noted. "There is no level of embarrassment this person would not stoop to," accused one user. "Has there ever been a more embarrassing time to be an American?" another mortified user wrote.
People also called the comment "tasteless" and "disrespectful," with one questioning, "Is failing an IQ test now a requirement to join this administration?"
Witkoff and other White House representatives visited the palace to meet with Macron and other EU leaders to discuss ongoing negotiations to end Russia's war on Ukraine.
While Witkoff's indelicate commentary on interior design were met with decorum, many hope the Trump administration will approach negotiations with more tact.