The New Yorker:

The greed of the new Administration has galvanized America’s aspiring oligarchs—and their opponents.

By Evan Osnos

To understand the vagaries of power in Washington, pay attention to where the powerful congregate. When Teddy Roosevelt was ascending, he could be found at the Metropolitan Club, a blue-blood hangout where he and his fellow-members planned the Spanish-American War. The more literary-minded might prefer the Cosmos Club, which hangs up portraits of members who win the Nobel Prize. (Thirty-six, so far.) The late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg enjoyed the City Tavern Club, a modest, threadbare place with monthly dues on the order of two hundred dollars. The club closed last year, for lack of funds.

When Donald Trump returned to the White House this winter, members of his circle set about creating an establishment that might suit their preferences. The President’s oldest son, Don, Jr., was among the founders of a members-only society called the Executive Branch, open by invitation to those who can pay initiation fees of as much as half a million dollars. One founding member, David Sacks, a Silicon Valley tycoon who serves as the Administration’s A.I. and crypto czar, explained, “We wanted to create something new, hipper, and Trump-aligned.” The location has yet to be announced, but Sacks promised that the club would provide like-minded members with a sanctuary, where they wouldn’t have to encounter a “fake-news reporter” or anyone else “we don’t know and we don’t trust.”

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