Private clubs for the wealthy are enjoying a renaissance in the nation’s capital, fueled by Trump administration insiders seeking safe spaces to socialize without being harassed or doxed.
High-end MAGA hangouts that have sprouted up this year include Ned’s Club Washington DC on 15th Street NW, the Executive Branch Club in Georgetown and The Clayton cigar bar in Penn Quarter.
Jessica Sidman, food editor for Washingtonian magazine, said the clubs may be attracting members of the current administration after Cabinet secretaries and White House officials faced “very public confrontations” that exploded on social media during the first Trump administration.
“The appeal is having a place where nobody spits in your face,” Ms. Sidman said in a phone interview. “Like it or not, D.C. is an extremely liberal city. You don’t have to worry about someone yelling at you or recording you in these clubs.”
She noted that protesters frequently harassed members of the first Trump administration at public eateries. One Virginia restaurant owner refused to serve then-White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in 2018.
During those early Trump White House years, political appointees seeking privacy frequently dined at what was then the Trump International Hotel, which opened in September 2016 in the Old Post Office following extensive redevelopment. (The Trump Organization sold the hotel to Waldorf Astoria in 2022 as business declined under Biden-era pandemic restrictions.)
Private clubs that have opened in recent months offer more rarified air to figures in the new administration.
Ned’s Club Washington DC is an offshoot of the international Soho House chain, which California investor Ron Burkle founded to revitalize the private club scene more than two decades ago.
Ned’s opened Jan. 31 and has attracted top Trump officials such as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who reportedly dines there almost nightly. Annual membership fees top out at $125,000.
Donald Trump Jr. co-founded Georgetown’s Executive Branch Club, which has become popular among the first family’s intimates and Silicon Valley business allies. It opened on June 13.
Observers say the Executive Branch has replaced Trump International as a go-to hangout for people close to the president, with the difference that its $500,000 initial membership fee precludes more mixed company from popping in.
There is a waiting list to join the invitation-only club, which has no public website or telephone number.
The Clayton, which expanded from its original location in Chicago, requires employees to sign nondisclosure agreements to keep whatever they overhear confidential. The five-level cigar bar opened in January at 405 Eighth St. NW. It has a 325-person capacity, a separate VIP entrance and memberships starting at $50,000.
People spotted at The Clayton in recent months include Brian Burch, president of the conservative CatholicVote and President Trump’s nominee as U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.
The Washington Times reached out to all three clubs for comment.
Several Trump administration appointees declined to comment, citing confidentiality.
Several society insiders confirmed that the District’s market for upscale MAGA socializing is growing.
Morgan Knull, a Realtor and member of multiple private clubs, said the newer clubs offer an appealing wall of security against people looking to go viral online by confronting government officials on camera.
“Social media and hyper-partisanship have permanently altered the old social dynamic,” said Mr. Knull, who holds memberships at WineLAIR and the Capitol Hill Club. “And that is why being able to tuck into a private club with rules of decorum holds such appeal. It’s not about the food or the drinks; it’s about the discretion.”
Private clubs have existed in Washington for decades. Among the oldest, the Metropolitan Club, the Sulgrave Club and the Alibi Club are easily the most exclusive — especially the Alibi, which has only 50 members.
Joining these older clubs requires lengthy vetting and substantial fees, making them harder to get into than the more recent hangouts.
“Trends come and go in D.C.,” said Carol Joynt, a longtime Georgetown resident and ex-owner of Nathan’s bar and restaurant who hosts social media Q&As with local personalities. “The politically exclusive clubs seem more of a fad and, if they last, it will be because they learned to welcome a mix of people.”
Meanwhile, younger Trump appointees who dress better than their peers but can’t afford the higher-priced clubs have flocked to a growing number of restaurants and bars with formal dress codes.
Ms. Sidman, the Washingtonian food editor, noted in a July 16 newsletter article that this resurgence in formality has become a “Bat Signal for the MAGA crowd.”
Her article identified Balos, Kata and the Naisho Room as some of the newer bars and restaurants that have given entry-level Trumpers a sense of exclusivity by screening out casual wardrobes.
“People with money and power want privacy, and that’s never going to change no matter who’s in the White House,” Ms. Sidman told The Times.
Her article also noted that Barbouzard, a French-Mediterranean restaurant that opened downtown on Tuesday, has announced a dress policy that forbids shorts, T-shirts, “revealing outfits” and “festive accessories such as crowns and veils.”
The policy specifies that long jeans for “gentlemen” are permitted “when thoughtfully styled with a collared shirt and closed-toe footwear.”
Not all MAGA hangouts require costly fees or fancy clothes, however.
Butterworth’s, an American-style eatery on Pennsylvania Avenue SE that opened on Capitol Hill last fall, has become known as a “destination du jour for MAGA elites,” without membership fees or a formal dress code.
Co-owner Raheem Kassam, a British-born conservative activist with ties to former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, described the newer breed of dressy Trumpers as social poseurs. He said his restaurant embraces rather than avoids mixed company.
“Nouveau-MAGA’s desperation to attend lib-run clubs and frequent progressive-owned restaurants is a bigger self-own than [Attorney General] Pam Bondi’s Epstein Files Phase One rollout,” Mr. Kassam said in an email. “As a neighborhood restaurant that welcomes all, Butterworth’s is very much not a part of that trend.”
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.