Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, has been spotted at Donald Trump’s Halloween party at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
The mining billionaire, who has never shied from publicly praising the controversial two-time US president, was seen speaking at Trump’s ear while he read a piece of paper in a social media post at the lavish affair at the weekend, as first reported by the Nine newspapers.
The image, posted by the former US attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, also included the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio.
The 1920s, Great Gatsby-themed party also reportedly attracted the One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, who the Nine newspapers claimed was seen in a private story on Instagram.
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Hanson’s office confirmed to Guardian Australia that the senator is absent from the upper house this week because she is in the US. It declined to confirm whether Hanson attended Trump’s party.
The party’s timing coincided with a US federal government shutdown and Trump’s attempts to suspend funding for an aid organisation that helps about 42 million Americans afford food each month.
Trump took to Truth Social on Friday, writing that he does “NOT want Americans to go hungry just because the Radical Democrats refuse to do the right thing and REOPEN THE GOVERNMENT”.
His plans to build a $300m ballroom in the White House – privately funded by wealthy donors – have continued to evoke Marie Antoinette comparisons.
Since the Coalition’s historic election loss in May, Rinehart has encouraged the Liberal party to stick with Trump-like policies.
In a lengthy statement to the Daily Mail in May, Rinehart said the “left media” had successfully driven away Liberals from “anything Trump”.
“This has been especially obvious this year, with the Liberals instead becoming known as the ‘me too’ party,” she wrote. “Trump-style ‘make Australia great’ policies via cutting government tape, government bureaucracy and wastage, and hence being able to cut taxes, too scarce in Australia this year to rate a mention.
“No doubt the left media will now try to claim that the Liberal loss was because the Liberal party followed Trump and became too right! The two simply don’t add up!”
