A swanky event at Donald Trump’s winter White House featuring dog mask-wearing dancers in aristocratic outfits is drawing criticism for being “creepy,” “weird,” and hosting “MAGA furries.”
Last weekend, the Mar-a-Lago Club hosted the American Humane Society’s 15th Annual Hero Dog Awards Gala. The animal welfare organization celebrated and fundraised for canines who work with law enforcement and first responders. The red carpet event included cocktails, dinner, and professional dancers. The latter drew criticism for their costuming.
Several dancers wore masks of various dog breeds while dressed in ball gowns, tailcoats, and other 18th century formalwear. Videos posted on Instagram of the event showed the dog-mask-wearing workers dancing with each other, posing with guests on the event’s red carpet, and taking selfies with attendees.
The costuming prompted some online commentators to suggest that the event catered to “furries,” or people who adopt animal characteristics, often in costume form. The detractors of the costumed performers also noted that many media depictions portray participants in the Furry community as being sexually motivated.
“Furries at the Southern White House! Wonder what MAGA will say about this!” one person commented.
Others said the choice of garb seemed out of place.
“This is some weird a-- dystopian sh-t,” liberal political commentator Vince Wilson weighed in on X, while others preferred to think the South Florida scenes were artificially generated. One X user asked the platform’s AI tool Grok, “Is this AI?”
Comparisons were also made to unsettling scenes in two Stanley Kubrick films: The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut, both of which depicted people wearing animal masks in sinister contexts. One person simply stated, “Oh this is not creepy at all.”
President Donald Trump, 79, did not arrive in South Florida until 8:53 p.m. on Jan. 9, when the event was scheduled. But it appears he still made it in time to make an appearance at the event. According to a video posted by Kelly Henry, the senior editor at Florida Weekly Palm Beach, the president addressed the crowd.
The American Humane Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit group that has an office in Palm Beach, did not immediately respond to a Daily Beast inquiry about the masks, how much the event raised, and whether Trump donated to it.
The AHS, founded nearly 150 years ago, says it “rescued, cared for and protected more than 1.4 billion animals and expanded life-changing programs to help them thrive” in 2025.
The White House has also been contacted for comment.
Trump, 79, is one of the few presidents to not own any pets while in the White House. His stated reasons have varied; he has cited his supposed lack of time—though he still has enough to golf a quarter of the year—and how pet ownership “feels a little phony,” whatever that means.
Trump’s first wife, Ivana, revealed he had no desire for pets before entering politics, either. She wrote in her memoir that Trump didn’t get along with her poodle, Chappy.
Chappy, she added, “had an equal dislike of Donald.”
