Trump hosts first event in newly-designed Rose Garden at White House

President Donald Trump hosted a dinner on Friday for House and Senate lawmakers in the newly redesigned White House Rose Garden, introducing the space as the “Rose Garden Club.”

Trump thanked the roughly 100 attendees, mostly House Republicans and some GOP senators, for supporting his second-term legislative agenda during his remarks at the dinner.

“We call it the Rose Garden Club,” Trump said. “It’s a club for senators, for congresspeople, for people in Washington — and, frankly, for people who can help bring peace and success to our country.”

Trump said the first group of guests he had hoped to host in the newly designed Rose Garden were technology executives that he met with the prior evening, including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. 

“I had the high-tech guys here, and they didn’t want to have rain on top of their beautiful heads,” he said.

Trump replaced the lawn in the Rose Garden with paved stone and added tables, chairs, and umbrellas similar to the style of gatherings at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.