Donald Trump Jr. and new girlfriend Bettina Anderson made their public debut at his father’s annual New Year’s Eve blowout at Mar-a-Lago, weeks after it was announced Trump Jr. had parted ways with Kimberly Guilfoyle.
This is the first time Trump Jr. – who also celebrates his 47th birthday today – and his new Palm Beach socialite love Anderson, 38, have been spotted at a major event since the exclusive DailyMail.com photos.
That came three months after DailyMail.com exclusively revealed the pair were canoodling at another Palm Beach restaurant during a lunchtime assignation, locking lips in front of incredulous diners.
Trump Jr. flashed a bright smile alongside Anderson as they entered the famous Florida club.
On his way in, President-elect Donald Trump, answered a few questions from the press, including casting doubt on the rumors President Joe Biden believed he would’ve beaten him.
‘I wish him well,’ Trump said of Biden while pointing out how far behind the Democrat was in the polls and the Georgia debate disaster. ‘He had a chance to do it in the debate and that didn’t work out too well for him,’ Trump said, Melania Trump at his side.
The president-elect also expressed confidence in his Cabinet nominees and demanded Hamas‘ Israeli hostages be freed.
He reiterated his support for House Speaker Mike Johnson, explaining the current leader would be the only Republican who could get the votes in a speakership fight.
Donald Trump Jr. and new girlfriend Bettina Anderson made their public debut weeks after it was announced Trump Jr. had parted ways with Kimberly Guilfoyle at his father’s annual New Year’s Eve blowout at Mar-a-Lago
This is the first time Trump Jr. – who also celebrates his 47th birthday today – and his new Palm Beach socialite love Anderson, 38, have been spotted at a major event
On his way in, Trump’s father, president-elect Donald Trump, answered a few questions from the press, including casting doubt on the rumors Joe Biden believed he would’ve beaten him
Trump also confirmed that he would be attending Jimmy Carter’s funeral but would not say if he had spoken to the late president’s family.
‘I’d rather not say,’ Trump told the journalists, including DailyMail.com.
During his first term, Trump attended the funeral of former President George H.W. Bush but not that of Sen. John McCain, who didn’t want him to be there.
The largescale Washington event will likely bring Trump face-to-face with Biden and the other living Democratic presidents including Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. Former President George W. Bush will also likely attend.
That same group is expected to attend Trump’s second swearing-in 11 days later.
DOGE co-chair and ‘First Buddy’ Elon Musk alongside son X and mother Maye, Vice President-elect JD Vance and his wife Usha, longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone and lawyer Alina Habba walked the red carpet before Trump arrived.
Musk carried X on his shoulders past waiting reporters.
Trump Jr.’s brother Eric and sister Tiffany were both there with their spouses, former RNC co-chair Lara Trump – who sang Tom Petty’s ‘I Won’t Back Down’ onstage at the party – and Michael Boulos.
Melania Trump wore a slinky and stylish black dress to accompany her husband
Vice President-elect JD Vance and his wife Usha were among those in attendance
DOGE co-chair and ‘First Buddy’ Elon Musk alongside son X and mother Maye
Elon Musk with X (left) stand alongside President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump (right) during Tuesday night’s New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago
Lara Trump, who co-chaired the Republican National Committee during the 2024 race, got up onstage and sang Tom Petty’s ‘I Won’t Back Down’
Tiffany’s baby bump was starting to show in her black dress. She announced her first pregnancy in October.
Trump’s ex-wife, Marla Maples, also walked the red carpet.
Melania Trump wore a slinky and stylish black dress.
Her father, Victor Knavs, wasn’t far behind.
Asked by a reporter if she had a new year’s resolution, the former and future first lady responded, ‘we all know what we want … world peace.’
She also stopped for a quick snap with Paolo Zampoli, her former modeling agent – and the man who introduced her to the president-elect.
Zampolli discovered the future first lady in the 1990s in Milan and helped secure her H-1B visa. He held a party for the president after he won the election in 2016.
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz walked the red carpet, with his wife Heidi – whom Trump once insulted – not far behind.
Female violinists on pedestals and wearing all-black lined the way for the guests as they entered the ornate Florida property.
They played tunes including ‘Jolene,’ Led Zeppelin’s ‘Kashmir’ and Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believing.’
Trump has been hosting the New Year’s fete for years.
Donald Trump, accompanied by his wife Melania, attends a New Year’s Eve event at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz walked the red carpet, with his wife Heidi not far behind
Those in attendance were treated to a fantastic, patriotic fireworks display ahead of the countdown to midnight
Trump gave a brief address to partygoers at Mar-a-Lago as the party got underway
This year’s event, according to the Palm Beach Post, is expected to draw as many as 300 guests.
Past VIPs have included Sylvester Stallone, Jason Aldean, Lou Dobbs and Fabio. During the 2020 party, held amid the COVID-19 pandemic and after Trump’s bruising election loss to President Joe Biden, ’90s rapper Vanilla Ice perked up the crowd.
Palm Beach Police Department spokesman Capt. William Rothrock told the Palm Beach Post that no fireworks are expected outside.
Inside, however, Trump’s crowd will be coming together after a major rift among his top allies on the subject of H-1B visas.
The fight pit Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy – selected to run the newly created Department of Government Efficiency – against traditional MAGA mainstays like Steve Bannon.
As tech industry insiders, Musk and Ramaswamy were pro the visas that bring in high-skilled laborers, while Bannon and the MAGA right argued those jobs should go to Americans first.
Trump ended up siding with Musk and even posted publicly to Truth Social about his desire to see the X owner at the New Year’s shindig.
‘Where are you? When are you coming to the “Center of the Universe,” Mar-a-Lago,’ Trump wrote. ‘We miss you and x! New Year’s Eve is going to be AMAZING!!!’
Trump addresses the media on the red carpet leading into the party
Asked by a reporter if she had a new year’s resolution, the former and future first lady responded, ‘we all know what we want … world peace’
Melania also stopped for a quick snap with Paolo Zampoli, her former modeling agent – and the man who introduced her to the president-elect
Trump signed the post ‘DJT,’ indicating he had penned the post himself.
However, Trump Jr. out with Anderson in public at a Trump event is likely to be the headline of the evening.
Born in Palm Beach with a twin sister, Anderson’s late father was Harry Loy Anderson who became the youngest bank president in the country when he took the helm of Worth Avenue National Bank at the age of 26.
Mother Inger, 74, still lives in an $11.5million home in an exclusive section of the mega-rich enclave.
Statuesque Bettina co-founded The Paradise Fund with her two brothers in 2005.
She attended Palm Beach Day School followed by St Andrews School in nearby Boca Raton where fees range from $30,885 a year for lower school to $72,420 for the most senior boarders.
Next it was a BA in Art History, Criticism and Conservation from Columbia in New York City, where she lived for a further three years before returning home and starting her ascent to become an essential part of Palm Beach’s exclusive social circuit.
Her social media is crammed with glamorous professional modeling shots and vignettes of her life – including spearfishing in the Bahamas where she claims to be the happiest.
Her profile with online designer store Moda Operandi – which features her modeling outfits – gushes: ‘Her style, like her personality, blends flirty femininity with a spicy sense of humor and embraces a broad range of brands.
‘Whether she’s headed out for a night in a show-stopping Oscar de la Renta mini, sporting a Zimmerman one-piece poolside, or hosting at home in a matching set from Cult Gaia, she’s a walking paragon of style.