Trump's housing issue: why neighbors want to evict the president from Mar-a-Lago

Donald Trump's Florida neighbors want to ban him from living in the presidential club Mar-a-Lago as a permanent residence. Why did it happen and can they succeed, the publication said with the BBC.

Photo: Shutterstock

Several lawyers representing the interests of neighbors said that Trump does not have the right to permanently live on the territory of the club and should leave it soon.

“We believe that Mar-a-Lago can become a place that will continually attract its most violent and lawless supporters,” attorney Philip Johnston, speaking on behalf of Save the Palm, said during a special City Council meeting. Beach”, engaged in the protection of historical heritage.

Lawyer Reginald Stumbo, representing several of the president's neighbors, stressed that in recent years, due to Trump's frequent visits to his club, residents of upmarket Palm Beach have faced blocking of streets, traffic jams, the closure of the local airport and unprecedented security measures. According to the lawyer, his clients fear that the transformation of the private club into Trump's permanent residence will lead to a noticeable decrease in property prices.

“There are many beautiful homes for sale in Palm Beach, and I am confident that he can find something that meets his needs,” Stumbo’s attorney said.

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But the main argument is that back in 1993, Trump signed an agreement with the Palm Beach authorities, according to which he cannot use the club as a permanent residence.

What agreement did Trump violate

Trump bought the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida back in 1985 for $ 10 million.

An area of ​​almost seven hectares once belonged to the Marjorie Post, one of the richest women in the United States. The home, built in the center of the estate in the late 1920s, was considered the second largest in Florida, with 58 bedrooms, 33 toilets and three bomb shelters.

In 1980, the building was declared a historical monument.

According to Post's will, in 1973 the estate was transferred to the ownership of the US federal government, but the authorities in Washington considered the costs of its maintenance too onerous, and eight years later returned the gift to the heirs of the first owner.

After lengthy negotiations, the estate, which no one had occupied for many years, was bought by Donald Trump as a private residence, and almost immediately began to rebuild it. The house has been expanded with an extension of a ballroom of almost 2 square meters, additional rooms, a tennis court and an outdoor pool overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Later, a golf club was added to the estate.

After a series of bankruptcies in the early 1990s, the future president tried to sell the estate in parts, building several private houses on its territory, but could not get permission from the Palm Beach City Hall.

Instead, Trump proposed turning his residence into a closed, private club. At the first hearing in the city council, held in May 1993, the personal lawyer of the future president, Paul Rampell, presented the club's draft and assured that Trump himself and his family members in the future did not intend to live in Mar-a-Lago.

“Another question I get asked a lot is whether Trump will continue to live at Mar-a-Lago,” the lawyer said at the time. “No, except that he will remain a member of the club and, accordingly, will be able to use the guest rooms.”

The agreement with the city authorities provided for, among other things, limiting the number of club members (no more than 500 people), parking spaces for their cars, as well as the main point that lawyers of Trump's new neighbors are now referring to: club members can live on the estate for no more than seven days in a row only three times a year, and their total stay in Mar-a-Lago cannot exceed 21 days a year.

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Trump's legal representatives and he himself signed this agreement.

The private club quickly became one of the most prestigious in the United States. The cost of the entrance fee today is $ 200 thousand. In addition, club members must pay an annual fee of $ 14 thousand, and guests staying in Mar-a-Lago for one night will pay $ 2 thousand for a room.

According to Forbes magazine, the current value of the estate is $ 160 million, and the private club is still one of Trump's few assets still generating income for its owner. In 2019 alone, for example, the estate reported a profit of $ 21,4 million.

Why neighbors want to evict Trump

During his time there, Trump has shown himself to be a rather restless neighbor.

For example, in 1995, he filed the first lawsuit against the county authorities, in which he demanded to change the routes of aircraft departing from Palm Beach International Airport. According to its representatives, the noise produced by the airliners disturbs guests of the private club. In court, an amicable agreement was reached, according to which Trump received from the district authorities the right to a preferential lease of an area of ​​almost a hectare: it was there that the Trump International Golf Club was subsequently opened.

In 2010, Trump again sued the airport - this time he demanded to stop the construction of a second runway, and in 2015 he again appealed to the judicial authorities, saying that the flights “create unacceptable levels of noise, emissions and pollution in Mar-a -Lago." Trump estimated the damage at $100 million, but the court rejected the claim.

Trump also filed a lawsuit against the city government in 1997 - he stated that the Palm Beach mayor's office was discriminated against Jews, while a significant part of the members of his club were Jews.

The most famous, however, was the dispute between Trump and the city hall over the height and size of the national flag. In 2006, a businessman erected a 24-meter high flagpole on the territory of the club, on which an American flag measuring 6 X 9 meters was flying.

After that, the mayor's office officially informed him that city regulations prohibit the installation of flagpoles over 13 meters high, and demanded that the structure be removed. The city council also ordered Trump to pay a $ 1250 a day fine until the flagpole is removed.

The businessman filed a response claim, but the case eventually ended in an amicable agreement. Trump agreed to shorten the flagpole, the mayor's office refused financial claims, but obliged him to transfer $ 100 as donations to charities helping veterans instead of paying a fine.

After Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential elections, the estate received the informal title of the "summer residence" of the head of the White House. Trump has visited Mar-a-Lago 30 times in four years, spending a total of 99 days there. In January 2017, a no-fly zone with a radius of more than 50 km was introduced around Palm Beach, and US Secret Service officers introduced special access controls for boats and yachts in the immediate vicinity of the club.

During presidential visits, nearby streets were blocked off, and all club employees underwent body searches. The closest airport to the club, Lantana, has regularly announced the complete cessation of all flights.

Local residents' protests were sparked, among other things, by the construction of a helipad on the estate and the president's plans to build a special pier for ocean walks. Local authorities did not give permission to build the pier, and the helipad was declared a "temporary structure" and promised to be demolished immediately after Trump's presidential term ended.

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But in the fall of 2019, Trump announced a change of place of registration and officially moved from New York to Palm Beach. The reason was tax claims from the Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York.

In December 2020, the first claims began to sound that Trump was violating the treaty. According to lawyers, his stay there also created problems for local residents.

What Trump's Lawyers Say

Recently, during a special meeting of the Palm Beach City Council, it was revealed that the former president is not going to leave the territory of his club at all.

According to the lawyer John Marion, representing the interests of Trump, the agreement, signed in 1993, applies only to "members and guests of the club", and the former head of state is now one of the employees of the estate.

“He is now the president of Mar-a-Lago,” the lawyer said.

Trump's responsibilities, his lawyer clarified, include daily monitoring of the state of affairs at the estate, monitoring employees, checking financial documents and meeting guests of the club.

“He is very active,” the lawyer shared. - To describe it briefly, this guy, when he walks around the territory, behaves like the mayor of the city of Mar-o-Lago. This is his home."

At the first city council meeting, Palm Beach City Hall has not yet decided whether Trump will be able to continue using his club as a permanent residence. Both sides have been asked to prepare new arguments by early April, when the city authorities promise to make a final decision.

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• Ex-Vice President Mike Pence also faced housing problemsbecause he lived in the vice presidential home.

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