Next month will see the opening in Washington, D.C., of Executive Branch, the Trump-aligned private members’ club, in a subterranean space behind a Georgetown shopping mall. Now, according to reporting by The New York Times, we now have a better idea of who you will and who you won’t see there.
Donald Trump Jr. owns the club along with Zach and Alex Witkoff, sons of President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff; Omeed Malik, head of 1789 Capital; and Chris Buskirk, an ally of Vice President JD Vance.
With a hefty joining fee reportedly as much as $500,000, the club is expected to have up to 200 members and requires more than just money to gain entry. For a start, a spokesperson for the club said, “You have to know the owners.”
They added: “This is not just for any Saudi businessman,” and that members want a place “where they’re not annoyed.”
President Trump’s White House crypto czar, tech investor David Sacks, says that Executive Branch differs from other private clubs in the city in that Washington insiders will not be welcome and members won’t have to worry “that the next person over at the bar is a fake news reporter or even a lobbyist” who “we don’t know and we don’t trust.”
Speaking on his All-In podcast earlier this month, Sacks confirmed a ban on media and said: “To the extent there are Republican clubs, they tend to be like more Bush-era Republicans as opposed to Trump-era Republicans.”
He added: “So we wanted to create something new, hipper and Trump-aligned.”
While other private clubs in the capital tend to be in grand historic buildings, the discreet, almost hidden, location of Executive Branch will also be stylistically different, with the Times reporting that it “will have what members say is modern décor inspired by Aman New York, a luxurious hotel and private club that opened in 2022.”
As to who is expected to frequent the club, in addition to the owners and Sacks, founding members include Jeff Miller, a lobbyist and top Trump fundraiser, and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, owners of crypto firm Gemini, until recently subject to a Securities & Exchange Commission investigation no longer being pursued.
Will the president stop by? That’s somewhat unclear, as while the club has been planned for the utmost discretion, a presidential motorcade is somewhat more obtrusive when navigating one of the District of Columbia’s most desirable neighborhoods.
During his first term, Trump was able to dine at what was then the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, a short distance from the White House. This was relatively out in the open, given that it was a functioning public space, accessible to journalists, lobbyists, lawmakers, and other officials.
Any visits to a venue as discreet and guarded as Executive Branch would potentially be shrouded in mystery and rife with speculation.
