US President Donald Trump celebrated the New Year at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. During the festive evening, he held a charity auction, at which a portrait of Jesus Christ was sold for $2.75 million.
The event was held as a black-tie gala. Trump said that all proceeds from the painting’s sale would go to support St. Jude Children’s Hospital and the local sheriff’s office. The canvas was created right during the event in about 10 minutes by artist Vanessa Gorabuena, whom Trump called “one of the greatest living artists.”
After completing her work, Gorabuena staged a demonstrative finale, running brushes over a black canvas as the orchestra performed a slow version of the song “Hallelujah.” Watching the process, Trump commented:
“I don’t know how you do it… Just for you to know, these people have a lot of money.”
The president opened bidding at $100,000, after which he quickly accepted an offer of $1 million. Addressing the anonymous buyer, he jokingly called him “the biggest guy on Wall Street,” noting that such an amount was “little things” to him.
When the bids rose to $2.5 million, Trump pretended to mishear the amount and asked with a smile: “5 million or 2.5 million?” In the end, the portrait sold for $2.75 million. The president invited the winner to come up on stage while joking about the risk of bankruptcy.
Trump was accompanied at the New Year’s Eve event by First Lady Melania Trump, who appeared in a floor-length silver dress. Guests included Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Christie Noem, former New York City Mayor and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, House Deputy Majority Leader Tom Emmer, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Janine Pirro, Emirati billionaire Hussein Sajwani, and filmmaker Brett Ratner, who is working on the documentary “Melania.”
Before the auction, the president addressed the guests with a speech in which he criticized the Democratic leadership of Minnesota for claims of widespread election irregularities, noted the successes of his mirror tariff program, and declared that his New Year’s goal was “world peace.”