The Executive Branch club: a $500,000 door to the administration

In spring 2025, Donald Trump Jr. co-founded Executive Branch, an invitation-only Georgetown club charging a $500,000 founding-membership fee plus annual dues - among the most expensive private clubs in the country - explicitly marketed on Trump-world proximity. Co-owners include 1789 Capital's Omeed Malik and Chris Buskirk and the Witkoff sons; founding members include sitting crypto czar David Sacks, the Winklevoss twins, and Chamath Palihapitiya. Membership requires a referral and vetting; a spokesperson told the NYT 'you have to know the owners' to get in.

The April 26 launch party drew a roster of the administration - Rubio, Bondi, SEC Chair Atkins, Bongino, Gabbard, Oz, Leavitt, Carr and more - putting Cabinet officials and regulators in a paid social space owned by the president's son. Reporting and the club's own comparisons cast it as the successor to the first-term Trump International Hotel, the earlier locus of emoluments concerns. The president is 'expected' to appear.

The conflict is structural: the club monetizes access to power. Members paying half a million dollars buy a private, media-barred room shared with the officials who regulate them - crypto and finance figures alongside the SEC chair and the AG. By late 2025 roughly 50 members had been admitted, some reportedly offering $1 million to join.

Documented

Legal but conflicted

$500,000 founding membership plus annual dues; some offered $1M to join; fewer than ~200 seats

Announced 2025-04; launch party 2025-04-26; ~50 members by Dec 2025