As the Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump loomed in Washington on Tuesday, a matter even more important to his immediate future was being discussed some 990 miles to the south by the town council of Palm Beach, Florida: whether the former president can continue living at Mar-a-Lago.
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The council will hear their attorney’s opinion on whether it can stop Trump living at his club. Nearly 30 years ago, in 1993, a Trump lawyer told the town the New York property magnate would be prohibited from living at Mar-a-Lago, if the town allowed him to convert it from a residence to a club.
The promise, however, was not included in a written agreement which may now take precedence.
Technically, Trump is an employee of the corporation that owns Mar-a-Lago – and the written agreement only bars members from living there. Under town regulations, a club can provide onsite housing to employees. Trump moved into Mar-a-Lago on 20 January, the day he left office.
In December, the south Florida town received a letter from an attorney representing a Mar-a-Lago neighbor, demanding it stop Trump living there. The unnamed neighbor believes Trump’s residency will decrease property values.
Trump and former first lady Melania Trump changed their residency from New York City to Mar-a-Lago in 2019. The Trump Organization has issued a statement saying: “There is no document or agreement in place that prohibits President Trump from using Mar-a-Lago as his residence.”
Trump owns two other homes near Mar-a-Lago, which he bought for $10m in 1985 from the estate of Marjorie Merriweather Post, the owner of General Foods. The 126-room mansion had deteriorated after her death in 1973, when she left it to the government as a possible presidential vacation home. The government gave it back in 1981.
Trump spent millions upgrading the property while living there part-time. By the early 1990s, however, he was in financial distress. He told the town he could no longer afford the $3m annual upkeep and it was unfair he shouldered the costs alone. He proposed subdividing the property and building mansions. The town rejected the proposal.
In 1993, Trump and the town agreed he could turn the estate into a private club limited to 500 members. The initiation fee is now $200,000. Annual dues are $14,000. Members can stay for no more than seven consecutive days and 21 days a year – but there is no prohibition on employees living there.
According to Palm Beach Post articles from 1993, Trump’s attorney Paul Rampell told the town council that Trump would be treated like any other member.
“Another question that’s often asked to me is whether Mr Trump will continue to live at Mar-a-Lago,” Rampell said. “No, except that he will be a member of the club and therefore will be entitled to the use of guest rooms.”
The length of Trump’s stays at Mar-a-Lago before his presidency are unknown, but they often exceeded seven days while he was in office and added up to more than 21 days a year.
Trump clashed frequently with the town before he became president. Neighbors complained about noise, traffic and a car lot-sized US flag and its 80ft pole, which Trump erected in 2006 without proper permits. Trump got a shorter pole and agreed to have his foundation give $100,000 to veteran charities.
He then put the pole on a mound, so it would still rise to 80ft.
Despite the public squabbles, Trump performed well in November’s election among his neighbors – in Mar-a-Lago’s precinct, he got 62% of the vote.
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