On one side is the dance floor, on the other side is the war. This is not a dramatic collage, but a real aspect of the current operation of American power.
According to "Reference News", on February 28, Eastern Time, the White House posted a photo on its official social media account saying, "President Trump is monitoring U.S. military operations in Iran: Operation Epic Fury."
White House Press Secretary Levitt disclosed that Trump was sitting at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida and paying close attention to the development of the situation. According to reports, senior officials including the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were also present.
Before that, on the evening of February 27, the Mar-a-Lago banquet hall was brightly lit, and a charity dinner was being held.
"I have to go to work"
"Everyone, have fun! I have to go to work." Trump told the guests in formal attire after the national anthem was played that night.
Few people realize that at the same time, after passing through the gilded banquet hall door and layers of security, the other side of the huge manor has been surrounded by black curtains, and a space with a wooden beam structure has been temporarily transformed into a war room. America's top national security officials gathered together to prepare for a long night.
Photos released by the White House on February 28 showed Trump, wearing a suit and a baseball cap embroidered with the word "USA" on his head, sitting around a long table filled with phones with Secretary of State Rubio, White House Chief of Staff Wiles and others. Behind him is a map labeled "Operation Epic Fury," indicating the deployment of U.S. troops in the Middle East and the location of Iranian targets.
According to the White House, before the attack, Rubio called all members of the Congressional Bipartisan Intelligence Leadership Group for a congressional briefing and briefed seven of them. At the same time, U.S. Vice President Vance presided over the meeting in the White House Situation Room, with Director of National Intelligence Gabbard, Treasury Secretary Bessent and other Cabinet secretaries by his side.
On March 1, the White House released multiple videos and posts, announcing the launch of military operations against Iran and confirming the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. However, Trump did not address the nation or hold a news conference to explain his strategic goals or drum up public support.
More controversial than the action itself is the space in which the decision took place. Commanding a highly classified military operation in a business club has once again raised questions about Trump's above-mentioned actions.
Some U.S. national security experts and intelligence officials are concerned that, as a paid membership club, does Mar-a-Lago have the highest level of security? Is there any risk of information leakage in a membership-based environment? Are state decisions being “privatized”?
This is not the first time similar concerns have arisen.
At the beginning of his first term, after North Korea launched missiles into the eastern sea, Trump discussed countermeasures with then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the terrace of Mar-a-Lago. Guests gathered around to watch and uploaded photos online, sparking a safety controversy. To that end, the Trump team has tightened photo rules and beefed up the club's confidential communications system.
Since then, Mar-a-Lago has been the site of many major military decisions.
In 2017, Trump authorized an attack on Syria. In 2020, the decision to eliminate Iran's senior general Soleimani was made in an underground conference room. Last year alone, air strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, Tomahawk missiles fired at suspected Islamic State camps in Nigeria, and operations against Venezuela to kidnap Maduro were all launched here.
But the structure, built in the 1920s and anchored to the reef with reinforced concrete, is not impregnable. Last month, a gunman was shot dead by the Secret Service after breaking into a secure area with a fuel can.
After the US-Israeli attack on Iran, the US has announced to strengthen security around the estate and the White House.
'More important than ever'
Just this past weekend, Trump rarely went out to play golf as usual. But he was still attending a super PAC fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago after dinner on Saturday.
White House press secretary Levitt said the fundraiser was "more important than ever."
While carrying out air strikes and fundraising, some commentators said that when military decisions are made in private clubs, the boundaries of power become increasingly blurred. Behind the US president's free switching between military operations and political mobilization is a complex picture in which state machinery and personal political orbits operate in parallel, and public power and private space are deeply intertwined.
(Editor’s email: ylq@jfdaily.com)
