Trump Woos Dershowitz At Mar-A-Lago Schmoozefest

Alan Dershowitz. Image by getty images

By Nathan Guttman March 21, 2017

Alan Dershowitz just wanted to have a relaxing weekend, and as luck had it, it happened to take place at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s Florida club, referred to by the president as the “Winter White House.”

And when at Mar-a-Lago, one can expect the president to drop by one’s table during dinner for a chat, especially if this certain guest was just on Fox News arguing that the president’s new travel ban executive order is not unconstitutional and will likely be upheld by court.

“He had some ideas on the Middle East he wanted to test out with me,” Dershowitz later told Politico. Speaking to Page Six, Dershowitz provided a more detailed account of his conversation with President Trump. “He picked the subjects. I didn’t have an agenda, but he had an agenda,” Dershowitz said. “He said, ‘I want to talk about this, this and that,’ and talked about six subjects or something,” including the travel ban, Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, Israel, “wiretaps” and “leaks.”

But the master of the deal wasn’t out schmoozing with Dershowitz only for some feedback on his policies. He was out to get the vote of the Harvard law professor who is a longtime Democrat, though one always happy to criticize his own party. “He said, ‘If I can get you to vote for me in 2020, that’ll be the real accomplishment because you’ve probably never voted for a Republican,” Dershowitz said. “It’ll be very uphill, but I have an open mind.”

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected]

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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