Behind Trump’s come­back: The for­mer pres­i­dent talks about his return from the depths of Jan. 6.

PALM BEACH, Flori­da — On March 15, the Repub­li­can Par­ty of Palm Beach Coun­ty held its Lin­coln Day Gala at Mar-a-Lago, where its spe­cial guest was also its host, Mar-a-Lago own­er and for­mer Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump. Around 8:30 p.m., Trump inter­rupt­ed his pri­vate din­ner on the out­door ter­race (a din­ner with one aide and me, for a most­ly on-the-record con­ver­sa­tion), to make a brief speech to the Repub­li­can group gath­ered in anoth­er build­ing in the com­plex.
Trump walked to the podi­um to his usu­al entrance music, Lee Greenwood‘s “God Bless the U.S.A.” To say the recep­tion was wild­ly enthu­si­as­tic would be an under­state­ment. The home­town Mar-a-Lago crowd’s reac­tion to Trump was more than just polit­i­cal enthu­si­asm: more intense, more per­son­al, more devot­ed. 

For­mer Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump fires up a cam­paign ral­ly in Hialeah, Flori­da, March 13, 2024 (Pedro Portal/El Nue­vo H …