President Donald Trump arrives for a New Year's Eve gala at his Mar-a-Lago resort with first lady Melania Trump and their son Barron in 2017
Credit: AP
Donald Trump’s neighbours in Florida are taking legal action to prevent him from moving permanently to his Mar-a-Lago beach residence after leaving office next month.
The neighbours this week sent a letter to town officials and the US Secret Service, urging them to inform the president that he would not be allowed to move to his hotel in Mar-a-Lago full time, so as to “avoid an embarrassing situation” when he is forced out at a later date.
They cite an agreement Mr Trump signed in 1993 when he sought to turn what had been a private residence into a social club. Club members who wished to stay at Mar-a-Lago could do so for no more than seven days at a time for three nonconsecutive weeks.
Mr Trump bought Mar-a-Lago, a 118-room mansion built in the 1920s, for $7million in 1985. In 1995, he converted the home into a private club in a bid to generate revenue.
For years, residents have complained about traffic caused by the president’s more than 30 trips to the club since 2017. They have also claimed its flagpole is in violation of local height restrictions.
The letter, seen by the Washington Post, was penned by a lawyer for the DeMoss family, which made its fortune selling life insurance.
Mar-a-Lago resort owned by President-elect Donald Trump in Palm Beach, Fla
Credit: AP
“There’s absolutely no legal theory under which he can use that property as both a residence and a club,” said Palm Beach resident Glenn Zeitz, an attorney by trade who is also part of the local resistance to a post-presidency move by Mr Trump to the area.
“Basically he’s playing a dead hand. He’s not going to intimidate or bluff people because we’re going to be there.”
A Trump business organisation spokesman who was not authorised to speak publicly about a legal issue, responded to the Post’s story by saying: “There is no document or agreement in place that prohibits President Trump from using Mar-a-Lago as his residence.”
While the president continues to publicly fight the results of the election — which saw President-elect Joe Biden win by a landslide — privately he is reported to have made plans for a move to Florida.
Mr Trump changed his official residence last year from New York to Florida, where he voted in November. Wife Melania has also reportedly seen touring schools in the area for 14-year-old son, Barron.
President Trump campaigns for Republican U.S. senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, alongside wife Melania, during a rally in Valdosta, Georgia
Credit: Reuters
His daughter Ivanka has also bought up a large plot of land in Miami’s high-security Indian Creek Island.
It came as Mr Trump took aim at Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader, who on Tuesday warned his fellow Republican senators not to join the president’s continued attempts to overturn the Electoral College results.
Mr Trump tweeted: “Mitch, 75,000,000 VOTES, a record for a sitting President (by a lot). Too soon to give up. Republican Party must finally learn to fight. People are angry!’”
The president, who still commands considerable support among conservatives, has attempted to turn his base against GOP figures who contradict him.
However, Mr McConnell, one of the most senior members of the party who just won a new six-year term, is insulated from the fury of vengeful Trump voters.
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