President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff—best known for buying up Manhattan hotels and being buddies with the president—managed to stun French diplomats by comparing the Élysée Palace, the historic seat of the French presidency, to Trump’s Florida clubhouse, Mar-a-Lago.
The remark was made in the Salon des Ambassadeurs, a chandeliered room dripping with 18th-century grandeur, during high-level ceasefire talks over Ukraine.
“You know what this looks like?” Witkoff said, gesturing at the gilt-paneled walls. “This actually looks like President Trump’s club at Mar-a-Lago.”
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The comment, intended as something of an icebreaker before the meeting began, drew awkward laughs from both the French and American teams.
“It’s fabulous what it looks like,” Witkoff continued before explaining that Trump actually works on Mar-a-Lago himself. “He’s like an architect or a designer.”
The Élysée Palace, completed in 1722, has served as the official residence of the French president since 1848, and is a symbol of French political heritage, hosting everyone from Napoleon Bonaparte to Charles de Gaulle. Its neoclassical architecture and storied past stand in stark contrast to the gaudy Floridian style of Mar-a-Lago.
Trump’s passion for architecture has been the subject of recent headlines. His signature “gold everything” taste is the current direction for ongoing renovations at the White House. Trump’s personal “gold guy” has even been flown in to bring that vision to life.
$100 million is reportedly being spent on the construction of a ballroom—the first major change to the presidential residence in more than 70 years.
The Ukrainian peace talks in Paris are being led by French President Emmanuel Macron with British security chief Jonathan Powell, German adviser Jens Plötner, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Ukrainian official Andriy Yermak in attendance.
Witkoff, a real estate mogul with zero foreign policy experience, was appointed in January by Trump as his special envoy to the Middle East. He has since found himself parachuted into a series of significant international diplomatic negotiations where his talent for flipping condos on Park Avenue has surely come in handy.
