Wedding registries reveal expensive tastes of Florida’s leading Never Trumpers

The couple, who are both virulently anti-Trump and have close connections to Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor defeated by the president in the 2016 GOP primaries, registered publicly at Macy’s, Crate and Barrel, and Pottery Barn. They requested a wide variety of items ranging from pool towels to dinnerware and gift cards.

Among the gifts people bought the couple were “Michael Aram Palm Cocktail Napkin Holders” ($65), “sustainably sourced” striped pool towels at $39.50, a dozen “Villeroy & Boch Buffet Plate Mandarin Chargers ($89.99 each), three “Squared Zen Melamine Large Green Leaf Platter” ($46 each) and a “Bedgear Dri-Tec King Sheet Set” at $248.99. The most expensive item still visible was a tall black “Pedestal Planter” at $379 and Macy’s tableware totaled $6328.08.

Navarro, a highly paid Republican campaign strategist, CNN commentator, and guest host of “The View,” married Cardenas at the plush Indian Creek Country Club on a private island off the coast of Miami. Cardenas is a multimillionaire and works as a top GOP lobbyist. Voter records indicate that Navarro and Cardenas live together in a $1.6 million house in Coral Gables, Fla.

The couple’s wedding was a star-studded affair. Attendees included CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, and Don Lemon, singer Gloria Estefan, actress Eva Longoria, and U.S. Sens. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and Bob Menendez, D-N.J., a client of Navarro’s whose political career survived two recent trials in which juries were deadlocked on corruption charges.

Exclusive rights to cover the wedding were granted to People en Espanol for an unknown fee. Navarro told the magazine that she had first met her future husband more than 25 years earlier. “It wasn’t the right time back then, so we became very good friends through the years and through the decades. Finally, things fell into place, things worked out and we’re able to be here today.”

Navarro appeared to marvel at the mashup of political and pop culture figures at the wedding. “Somebody said to me last night, ‘I’m not sure where else I could be dancing next to @gloriaestefan, @evalongoria, Isaiah Thomas and @mittromney while @willychirino sings the ‘Guantanamera’ other than your wedding. Yup. That happened,” she wrote on Instagram. She also posted a photo of her wedding cake, which appeared to be several feet tall.

Despite the political heavyweights at the event, Navarro tweeted that she was hoping to escape the glare of politics during their nuptials, declaring that she was in a “no-politics zone” Saturday.

Navarro announced her engagement on “The View” late last year. Some of the hosts from the show also attended the wedding. Blitzer snapped a photo with co-hosts Sunny Hostin and Joy Behar.

Both Navarro and Cardenas have been vocal critics of President Trump. Navarro said she believes Trump is a racist. And Cardenas, a former chairman of the American Conservative Union, said Trump is “the worse social poison to afflict our country in decades.”

Navarro worked on former Republican Gov. Jeb Bush’s inaugural transition team in 1998 and on late Sen. John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. Cardenas served as the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida while Bush was in office and is now a partner at lobbying firm Squire Patton Boggs. He has donated tens of thousands of dollars to Republican causes and candidates.

His previous wife Diana Cardenas and Navarro, who is a staunch defender of gay rights, publicly disagreed on the issue over Facebook in 2011. Navarro was seen in mid-February celebrating her marriage to Cardenas at a brunch complete with drag performers.

Cardenas proposed to Navarro in October, with Navarro taking to Instagram to show off the engagement ring, complete with huge diamond.

In 2017, New York Times columnist David Brooks, like Navarro and Cardenas a self-styled anti-Trump conservative, was widely mocked for his lavish wedding registry when he married his former research assistant, who was 23 years his junior.

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this story, the Washington Examiner erroneously reported Sen. Bob Menendez attended the wedding. Ana Navarro-Cardenas has pointed out Sen. Menendez, who was on the guest list and due to be at the wedding, attended a funeral instead. Sen. Menendez has confirmed this, stating via Twitter: “I am so bummed that I couldn’t make my dear friend @ananavarro’s wedding!” The Washington Examiner regrets the error.