PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump welcomed 2026 at his Mar-a-Lago New Year’s Eve gala Wednesday night, telling reporters his New Year’s resolution was “peace on Earth” as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined the black-tie crowd. The upbeat message and a $2.75 million charity auction came as the administration escalated scrutiny of alleged fraud in Minnesota social-service programs, Dec. 31, 2025.
Mar-a-Lago New Year’s Eve: ‘peace on Earth’ as diplomacy meets domestic politics
Trump’s brief comments about “peace on Earth” were captured as he arrived at the club in an Associated Press video report. Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, also appeared at the celebration, according to The Times of Israel.
For Trump, Mar-a-Lago New Year’s Eve again doubled as a holiday ritual and an informal receiving line — a setting where foreign-policy symbolism and domestic politics can share the same room, without the formality of a summit schedule.
Mar-a-Lago New Year’s Eve auction raises $2.75 million for charity
In the Donald J. Trump Grand Ballroom, Christian artist Vanessa Horabuena speed-painted a portrait of Jesus on a large canvas before Trump took the microphone and auctioned it to guests. The winning bid reached $2.75 million, and Trump said the proceeds would be split between St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and a local sheriff’s department, according to a CNN account of the event.
That auction moment, staged for the ballroom and the cameras, became the clearest expression of how Mar-a-Lago New Year’s Eve blends entertainment and high-dollar fundraising in a room filled with political insiders and donors.
Minnesota fraud probes move from allegation to policy flashpoint
Trump also used the Mar-a-Lago New Year’s Eve stage to highlight allegations of fraud tied to publicly funded child care operations in Minnesota, telling the crowd, “We’re going to get to the bottom of all of it. It was a giant scam,” CNN reported. Earlier Tuesday, federal health officials said they had paused child care payments to Minnesota day cares flagged for suspected fraud and announced stricter verification requirements for states seeking reimbursements, The Washington Post reported.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has said the state has referred suspected cases to law enforcement and warned that broad payment disruptions could affect families who rely on child care assistance.
How this Mar-a-Lago New Year’s Eve moment fits a longer arc
The holiday gathering has carried political weight for years, and the club has repeatedly been framed as a place where access and influence collide. In late 2024, the AP described Mar-a-Lago as a magnet for those seeking influence around Trump, while a 2017 Guardian report examined ethical questions surrounding a sitting president hosting a high-dollar New Year’s gala at a private property.
Likewise, Minnesota’s fraud cases did not begin this week. The Justice Department said in 2022 it had charged 47 defendants in a $250 million Feeding Our Future scheme that exploited a federally funded child nutrition program, according to a Justice Department release.
For Trump, Mar-a-Lago New Year’s Eve delivered a carefully framed wish for peace, a diplomatic tableau with Netanyahu and a headline-making charity auction — while signaling that investigations and audits in Minnesota are likely to remain a high-voltage political issue in the new year.
