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Washington's power set mingles before the storm of Trump's military parade

Welcome back to The Red Letter.

For the first time since President Trump took office, I felt some serious political wattage in the French Ambassador’s residence on Tuesday​​, one of the most elegant venues in Washington D.C., where the power set traditionally convenes. It’s historically the venue for the most exclusive afterparty of the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, hosted by Vanity Fair and whatever co-sponsor actually paid for the party. In past years, you could spot celebrities like Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Jon Hamm, Bradley Cooper, among others. The chance to hobnob with celebrities attracted top-shelf politicians, cabinet secretaries, supreme court judges, and brand-name journalists. But even when celebrities aren’t in town, the venue alone could bring together the establishment and senior administration officials.

But this past White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the NBCUniversal afterparty was remarkably low wattage with just political journalists and rank-and-file Democrat officials milling about, even the top network anchors skipped out. After that weekend, I was certain the Washington party scene was dead for the next four years. (And the truth about Washington is that it loves to party.)

When President Trump took office again, he set the tone by essentially banning his team and any of his allies from attending the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and surrounding events that weekend. Paypal founder and Trump crypto czar David Sacks shouted at their alt-White House Correspondents’ party “Down with the White House Correspondents’ Association!” in front of top cabinet officials and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who would normally be sitting on the dais at the Washington Hilton with the press. The Trump administration has been incredibly exclusive with their socializing, reflecting how they spend most of their time when he’s not in Washington at Trump’s private clubs—Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach and Bedminster in N.J. To avoid exposure to political journalists and Democrats, Donald Trump Jr., his business partner Omeed Malik, and Sacks are opening “The Executive Club,” a $500,000 per membership private club in Georgetown as a haunt for Trump administration officials and the top lobbyists, who can buy their way in. The other hot private club that’s frequented by Trump administration officials, journalists and the Washington establishment is The Ned, where you can catch officials like Scott Bessent or Richard Grenell.

But Tuesday night at the French ambassador’s residence felt different—perhaps a cooling of the social standoff. The Améthyste Ball, co-hosted by Kellyanne Conway, uber-lobbyist Heather Podesta, French Ambassador Laurent Bili, and Semafor founder Steve Clemons, was actually attended by both top Trump officials like Dr. Oz and the White House Director of Domestic Policy Council Vince Haley and the new darling of the Democratic resistance Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut.

NIH director Jay Bhattacharya also attended along with Trump allies Senator Dave McCormick (R-PA) and his wife, former Trump official Dina Powell, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and former administration officials like Hogan Gidley, Tony Sayegh, and Mike Rubino. They mingled with reporters, lobbyists, and Democrats like Senators Chris Coons and Sheldon Whitehouse.

Clemons, who hosts the party every year, explained that Améthyste is French for purple. “It's all about a compromise between blue and red,” Clemons said, speaking of the political parties. “We need to have buy-in and trust from the administration, they trusted the people we had involved. My goal was to do something the White House Correspondents’ couldn’t do.”

The party restricted conversations to the Chatham House Rule, meaning you can discuss who was there and what was said, but vaguely—without quoting people directly. It’s a rare social constraint in D.C. where officials are aware that journalists are everywhere. Clemons wanted it to be a party for the sake of a party, so no speeches or political agenda. It’s obviously a coup for the French to have high-level Trump officials in their home as Trump engages in a high stakes standoff with Europe over trade, making them the envy of the rest of the diplomatic corps.

There were noticeably very few CNN journalists at the party—I spotted just two—just days after news broke of Warner Bros. Discovery splitting into two different companies: HBO Max streaming service and Warner Bros.

While some of you may be gagging at the thought of the Washington elite sipping on champagne and noshing on macaroons in a 27,000-square foot Tudor Revival mansion while Los Angeles is burning, I can tell you there was anxiety in the air.