President Barack Obama was just finishing up 18 holes at the Vineyard Golf Club around noon Saturday when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived by private jet at Martha’s Vineyard Airport.
Pelosi’s staff, however, said she was not on the island to attend Obama’s big 60th birthday party set to kick off at 7 p.m. A Pelosi aide said she was on Martha’s Vineyard to attend “private events in support of House Democrats.
The ex-president, who hit the links with pals including Don Cheadle, who flew in Friday for the supposedly scaled-down party. Meanwhile, Pelosi got the VIP treatment at Martha’s Vineyard Airport when she arrived.
Sources told The Post that Pelosi arrived in a private plane that taxied away from the paparazzi-filled main terminal to the far end of the airport where she was picked up and whisked away by private black cars.
Sources told The Post that Pelosi did have lunch at the posh Winnetu Ocean Resort in Edgartown. That’s the same place where, on Friday night, Obama hosted a pre-party that went on for about four hours and included many of the VIP guests expected at Obama’s party. Many of Obama’s guests are staying at the Winnetu.
John Legend, who arrived with his wife Chrissy Teigen on Friday, is set to perform tonight at the mega bash at the Obama’s mansion, sources told The Post.
The Winnetu party took place at a big banquet hall that included a balcony overlooking the beach. Tom Hanks, sporting glasses and gray hair, “charmed the crowd,” said one source.
President Obama, in a dark shirt, also appeared to move around the room with his wife Michelle, chatting up many of the guests. At one point the partygoers paused for about 25 minutes to hear speeches, a source told The Post.
Among the party guests spotted at the Winnitu — some of whom are also staying there — were George Clooney, Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce and Jay Z.
Jennifer Hudson is reportedly staying at billionaire Ernie Boch Jr.’s $23 million estate. Other guests are staying at some of the multi-million yachts moored in Edgartown Harbor.
Aerial photographs of the former first family’s sprawling $12 million 29-acre property showed a massive tent flanked by smaller staging tents, outdoor furniture, a dance floor and a large raised stage with speakers and technical equipment.
Sources told The Post Saturday said the tent still being up did not mean the bash was still planned to be as big, saying it was to protect guests from aerial drones.
TMZ reported that some Martha’s Vineyard locals were angry about their island being upended by the party. But James Hagerty, the Town Administrator for Edgartown, said Obama’s party was business as usual for one of the country’s biggest summer hotspots.
“Really, the president’s party is nothing we haven’t seen many times before,” Hagerty told The Post. “We’re used to a lot of big events like this in the summer and it’s good for the economy. Most locals don’t mind.”
The party was initially set to feature 475 guests and 200 workers, but an Obama spokeswoman on Wednesday said the party would be rolled back after an outbreak of the Delta variant in nearby Cape Cod.
“Due to the new spread of the Delta variant over the past week, the President and Mrs. Obama have decided to significantly scale back the event to include only family and close friends,” Hannah Hankins said in a statement.
Obama’s decision followed a report by The Post, which cited a source as saying the former president was creating a public health “nightmare” by trying to get nearly 700 people to his party amid a national surge of the variant and new restrictions.
Inside the Obamas’ Martha’s Vineyard home where Barack is hosting his 60th birthday bash
