Charles Trainor Jr./Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
- The RNC will hold part of its spring retreat at Mar-a-Lago, the Washington Post reports.
- Trump has clashed with some GOP leaders and committees in recent weeks.
- He sent a cease-and-desist letter to the RNC warning them not to use his likeness without approval.
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The Republican National Committee is now holding part of its spring retreat at Mar-a-Lago after former President Donald Trump sent the organization a cease-and-desist letter, the Washington Post reported on Monday.
Trump regularly held fundraisers and invited prominent politicians to visit and golf at Mar-a-Lago, his club and now post-presidential residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
The Post reported that the RNC will pay Trump a fee for the usage of the club for part of its retreat for big donors in early April, with Trump set to address the crowd at a Saturday night dinner.
The move comes amid tensions between Trump and some of the top Republicans in the party establishment as the 2022 midterm elections near.
The Post reported, citing a source familiar with the matter, that holding part of the GOP's retreat at Trump's club and paying him for Mar-a-Lago's usage could help the RNC get firmly in Trump's good graces.
While Trump has largely laid low since leaving office, he is gearing up to play a role in the midterms, including vowing electoral revenge on congressional Republicans who voted to impeach him for inciting the January 6 insurrection.
"Where necessary and appropriate, I will back primary rivals who espouse Making America Great Again and our policy of America First," Trump said in a February 16 statement.
And recently, Trump took steps to restrict how campaign committees can fundraise off of his name after reported rifts between him and leaders like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
Politico reported that Trump sent cease-and-desist notices to several campaign committees, including the RNC, warning the organizations against using Trump's name and likeness for fundraising appeals without approval.
The RNC is ignoring the warnings so far, and continuing to send out fundraising emails explicitly using Trump's name.
On Monday, Politico reported that the RNC's chief counsel sent a letter to Trump's lawyers pushing back on the cease-and-desist notice, arguing that the organization "has every right to refer to public figures as it engages in core, First Amendment-protected political speech" and claiming that Trump continued to approve of the committee's use of his name in a recent conversation with RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
In recent weeks, Trump has also publicly castigated top members of the GOP, including McConnell, in statements issued through his Save America PAC.
On February 16, for example, Trump blamed McConnell for Republicans' loss of the dual January 5 Senate runoffs in Georgia and called him a "dour, sullen unsmiling political hack."
And in a lengthy March 4 statement, Trump blasted longtime GOP political strategist and Fox News analyst Karl Rove as "a RINO of the highest order" and a "pompous fool with bad advice."