The Atlantic

A Very Trumpy Reunion on the Las Vegas Strip

The handful of White House castoffs who have descended on the Bellagio Hotel represent some of the most dramatic episodes of this presidency.
Source: Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP / Mark Reinstein / Albert H. Teich / L.E.MORMILE / Shutterstock / The Atlantic

LAS VEGAS—All, in their own way, are castoffs from Trumpworld. But this week finds them in a circus of a different sort.

A handful of former and wannabe administration officials have descended on the Bellagio Hotel to speak at an annual conference put on by one of their own: Anthony Scaramucci, the investment executive whose stint in the West Wing lasted only 11 days. The summit, called SALT, is a kind of reunion for these Trump discards, who either were hired and fired at the president’s behest, or never landed the enticing job that he had dangled.

They’re celebrities here. Walking through the main ballroom, past a reception area where a gleaming blue Rolls-Royce is on display and the Fox Business Network has set up its cameras, John Kelly gets stopped again and again. Entrepreneurs and corporate executives all want to shake the hand of President

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