Winter White House

THE SALADS HAD BEEN SERVED and the steaks were on their way when Donald Trump’s aides surrounded the table. It was around 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 11, and the President was eating dinner with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the outdoor terrace of Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Fla. They had just received confirmation that North Korea had launched a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, a violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions and one of the first foreign policy tests of the Trump Administration.

The provocation was a surprise, but the bigger shock was the setting. While the President was briefed on the situation before dinner, according to a White House spokesperson, part of the drama played out in the middle of the Mar-a-Lago patio, more than 800 miles from the White House Situation Room and in full view of hundreds of club members and their guests. As a keyboard player sang classic hits in the background, White House aides relied on cell