“At the minimum, this creates the appearance of cashing in the presidency and selling direct personal access to the president,” he said. “It is unacceptable. And it demeans the office of the presidency.”

The new initiation fee went into effect on Jan. 1, although the annual dues remained the same — $14,000 a year, he said.

The club has 482 members, with a cap of 500.

“It enhances it,” Mr. Lembcke said of Mr. Trump’s new job and its impact on the value of the membership. “His presidency does.”

“But we are very careful in vetting them,” he added.

News about the change in the initiation fee was reported by CNBC.

Who’s a fraudulent voter now?

By President Trump’s definition, his senior White House adviser, Steve Bannon, is apparently committing voter fraud.

So is his nominee to be the next Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin.

So, apparently, is one of his daughters, Tiffany Trump.

Mr. Trump was pretty broad with his definition of voter fraud when he took to Twitter Wednesday morning to request an investigation of the nefarious conduct of the 2016 electorate — with no evidence to support it.