Trump and Melania abruptly decided to ditch the Mar-a-Lago New Year's party that many of his supporters bought tickets for

• President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump departed from his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida before a lavish New Year's Eve party.

• The couple decided at short notice to leave early. They'll instead ring in the new year from Washington, DC.

• CNN reported that some people had already arrived for the event, typically attended by hundreds. Tickets for past events have cost about $1,000.

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President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump decided at short notice to abandon his Mar-a-Lago club before a lavish New Year's Eve party.

They're scheduled to leave Florida at 11 a.m. and set to spend Thursday night at the White House. They had previously planned to leave Mar-a-Lago on New Year's Day, the Associated Press reported.

CNN's Kaitlan Collins and Kevin Liptak reported, citing three people familiar with the matter, that guests had already started gathering at the resort and had been told that Trump would be attending.

Among the guests who were present despite the president and first lady's absence was Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

Additionally, the president's two oldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, attended the Mar-a-Lago party, CNN reported. Kimberly Guilfoyle and Lara Trump, the respective significant others to Donald and Eric, were also present. Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner did not appear to be at the party, but Tiffany Trump was there, according to CNN.

The Huffington Post reported in 2018 that tickets to the party had cost about $1,000.

The event is a tradition for the Trump family, and CNN noted that Trump usually enjoys posing on the red carpet there.

A Mar-a-Lago member told CNN on Tuesday that they heard at least 500 reservations had been made. Some 800 people attended the party in 2017, according to the Palm Beach Post.

Bloomberg News reported Jennifer Jacobs tweeted late Wednesday that Trump was leaving the resort a day earlier than planned and would miss the party "that hundreds bought tickets for."

Guests were reportedly expecting Trump to be in attendance. They were skeptical about dropping money for the event without confirmation that the president would be there, according to CNN. Trump was expected to attend up until the day before the event.

The party was organized despite surging coronavirus cases in the US. CNN said it wasn't clear what coronavirus measures were planned for the event.

Video footage from the event shows people dancing in close proximity without any masks on.

Neither Trump nor the White House gave a reason for Trump's early departure from the resort.

The AP reported that since arriving at Mar-a-Lago on December 23, Trump has spent most of his time repeating his grievances about the result of the election, which he lost to President-elect Joe Biden.

Trump will return to Washington, DC, as some congressional Republicans plan to object to formally affirming Biden's win at a joint session on January 6. Trump has baselessly claimed that he won the election and has tried unsuccessfully to overturn the result.

Read more: Biden is hiring 4,000 political staffers to work in his administration. Here's how 3 experts say you can boost your chances of getting one of those jobs.

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