WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump plans to have dinner with several of his high-level political supporters at a private residence in Washington on Wednesday night, a source familiar with the dinner told CNN.
A dinner outside the White House is rare for Trump, who has spent nights in his first year inside the White House, at one of his many estates or eating at the nearby Trump International Hotel. Though the dinner is listed on the President’s public schedule, it does not include any details as to who the President is dining with or what the purpose of the dinner is.
However, CNN has learned that former ambassador Clayland Gray is hosting the meal at his Georgetown home, and billionaire oilman Harold Hamm and Brian Walsh, the president of America First Policies, are slated to attend, among others.
Hamm is a longtime political donor who has been friends with Trump since 2012. Gray, who is professionally known as C. Boyden Gray, served as White House counsel to President George H.W. Bush and served as US Ambassador to the European Union and as US Special Envoy to Europe for Eurasian Energy under President George W. Bush.
A White House official declined to comment on where the dinner would be in Washington but described it as “a private dinner with supporters.”
The event does not have a fundraising component, another source with knowledge of the event’s planning told CNN, but many of the attendees have provided financial backing to Trump’s campaign and other Republicans supporting the President.
First lady Melania Trump is not expected to attend, the source added.
Trump leaving the White House at night for dinner is a rarity, especially when his destination is not the Trump International Hotel, blocks from the White House. Trump has had dinner or headlined an event at the nearby hotel over a half-dozen times as president, and he has yet to leave the White House to eat at a local restaurant in Washington.
The lack of nights out for dinner is a marked departure from Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, who routinely left the White House to have dinner at a host of Washington establishments.
The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2018 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved. (Photo: CNN)
