Donald Trump Jr. co-founds new private members club, Executive Branch, with a $500,000 fee
A new private membership club in Washington, D.C., co-founded by Donald Trump Jr., is charging a $500,000 membership fee — and there's already a waiting list.
The club, called Executive Branch, held a launch party on Saturday night that included at least a half dozen members of President Donald Trump's administration as well as wealthy CEOs, tech founders and policy experts, according to people familiar with the club who declined to be named speaking about it publicly.
Executive Branch was founded by Donald Trump Jr., along with Omeed Malik and Christopher Buskirk of 1789 Capital, the investment firm that made Trump Jr. a partner last year. Other founders include Alex Witkoff and Zach Witkoff, the sons of billionaire real estate developer Steve Witkoff, a longtime friend of the President's and the current Middle East envoy.
Founding members include White House crypto czar David Sacks, crypto investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss and tech investor Chamath Palihapitiya, the people familiar told CNBC.
In addition to the $500,000 membership fee, the club will charge annual dues, which have yet to be disclosed.
Executive Branch will open sometime in the next month or so at a location in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., those people said.
Executive Branch is the latest in a wave of private membership clubs that have opened since the Covid pandemic in cities like New York, Miami and Los Angeles. The clubs offer exclusive restaurants and bars, along with meeting spaces, gyms and spas and typically come with membership fees of roughly $4,000 to $10,000. Some, like the Aman Club in New York, for example, run as high as $200,000. Read More UK house prices will not stop falling until 2025, Lloyds predicts
Executive Branch, at more than double the Aman Club's cost, will be far and away one of the most expensive membership clubs in the U.S. And unlike popular membership clubs in New York, like Zero Bond, Core Club, ZZ's or Casa Cipriani, Executive Branch will likely have a select and smaller membership, according to people familiar with the club.
Washington insiders say Executive Branch could play a similar role in the Washington social-political circuit as the Trump International Hotel in Washington D.C. played during the first Trump administration. The Trump Hotel became a popular hangout for administration officials and Republican congressional leaders as well as foreign dignitaries, lobbyists and business leaders.
The hotel, however, also became a magnet for ethics-related criticism, and the Trump Organization sold the hotel's lease in 2022.
Saturday's launch party event for Executive Branch included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, Attorney General Pam Bondi, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, deputy FBI director Dan Bongino and Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, according to people who attended.
Also attending were several tech founders and CEOs, including AppLovin CEO Adam Foroughi, the people said.
Prospective members of the club have to be heavily vetted and approved by its founders, according to people close to Executive Branch. Although some prospective members have offered to pay $1 million to join, membership requires a referral and close screening.
'We don't want members of the media or just a lot of lobbyists joining,' said one person close to the club. 'We want people to feel comfortable having conversations in privacy.'
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