Stephanie Mattat, The Associated Press
4 hours ago
Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump gestures to supporters as he leaves after visiting the Safari Club International offices in Washington, Thursday, June 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Republican lawmakers sang “Happy Birthday” to Donald Trump and celebrated with cake and gifts a day before his 78th birthday, a remarkable show of loyalty for a former president who was alienated from many of his fellow lawmakers after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
On Friday, President Trump will again celebrate his birthday, this time with thousands of supporters in his adopted home state.
Members of the “Club 47” fan group plan to hear Trump speak in West Palm Beach, Florida, a short drive from Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. Club 47 president Larry Snowden said the event has sold out, with 5,000 tickets priced at $35 each, with seats closer to the stage costing $60.
Weeks after becoming the first former president to be convicted of a felony, Trump is tightening his grip on his party's base and many of its elected officials as he is set to accept his party's presidential nomination for a third time next month.
Trump is currently three years younger than the 81-year-old Democratic President, Joe Biden.
Trump was in Washington on Thursday to meet with Republican members of the House and Senate. It was his first visit to the Capitol since the riot, which was started by supporters of Trump, who lost the 2020 presidential election to Biden. House Republicans sang “Happy Birthday” to Trump and presented him with the baseball and bat used in the annual Congressional Game.
The senators then presented Trump with an American flag cake with 45 candles in recognition of him being the 45th president, after which Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming added two more candles bearing the numbers four and seven.
“We're all committed to making sure he becomes the 47th president,” Barrasso told reporters later, adding: “I took them out and put them on while he was sitting there, and he loved them. And there was a big round of applause at the end when he heard it.”
Among the senators at the rally was Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who endorsed Trump earlier this year despite not speaking out since 2020. Barrasso told reporters that Trump and McConnell had spoken and shook hands.
Snowden and other members of Club 47 said they expected Trump to speak about the sentence as part of his regular campaign message in New York. Trump's sentence is due to be announced on July 11.
“Our people are anxiously awaiting his determination to move forward, and I know he is determined to keep moving forward no matter what the left in our country throws at him,” Snowden said.
Club 47 is based in Palm Beach County and says on its website that its goal is to connect and engage Trump supporters “in our area.” Trump last spoke at the club in October, days after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
Lydia Maldonado, a local Hispanic activist who plans to attend Friday, said she frequently attends Club 47 events and found herself surrounded by a crowd wearing U.S. flag shirts, Trump 2024 merchandise and American-themed costumes.
Maldonado said the event is unique compared to any rallies or events held around the country featuring former presidents. He said he's excited to be a part of Trump's birthday event, but thinks Trump will feel comfortable and familiar with the crowd because this is Trump's hometown.
“The purpose of this event is to let him know how much the people of this community love him and how much they support him,” Maldonado said.
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Associated Press writer Jill Colvin in Washington contributed to this report.
