Donald and Melania Trump's installation in Mar-a-Lago compromised
Donald and Melania Trump plan to move to Mar-a-Lago when the billionaire's tenure ends. Problem: a contract forbids them to do so.
The works have started, Melania Trump has already started looking for a school for Barron, but the installation of the Trumps in Mar-a-Lago is in jeopardy. According to the "Washington Post", a contract signed in 1993 stipulates that the club cannot be used as a main residence: to accept that Mar-a-Lago loses its status as a residential place and becomes a lucrative establishment, thus benefiting from taxation advantageously, the neighbors of the place had changed the status of the property acquired by the billionaire in 1985. The same is true for the status of historic property, which prevents any installation. “To avoid an embarrassing situation for everyone and to give the President time to find another residence in the area, we trust you to work with his team to remind them of the parameters of the agreement. Palm Beach has many homes for sale, he can certainly find one that meets his needs, ”wrote Reginald Stambaugh, lawyer for the DeMoss family, neighbors of Mar-a-Lago, in a letter to City Hall of Palm Beach and the Secret Service.
The rules are strict: a permanent resident is considered to be any person staying there "for three non-consecutive periods of seven days during the year". Beyond this period, Mar-a-Lago could be considered a hotel and not a private club. However, according to the count of the “Washington Post”, Donald Trump went to Mar-a-Lago 30 times during his mandate, for a total of 130 days, whether for vacation or to receive foreign leaders like the Chinese President Xi Jinping or his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro. The neighbors' association had already agreed, for security reasons, to the installation of a helipad within the club, however expressly prohibited in the 1993 contract. This heliport, used for the presidential helicopter Marine One, must be dismantled at the end of Donald Trump's term. The neighbors, exasperated by the important security device deployed with each arrival of Donald Trump, expect this dismantling to be carried out.
"He's not going to intimidate people or bluff"
According to the "New York Times", these legal questions had been raised as early as 2018, when Donald and Melania Trump had legally domiciled in Mar-a-Lago, where they regularly spend weekends in the fall and the holidays. end of year. But the neighbors had not expressed their opposition, aware of the security issues surrounding the second home of the US president, which requires the presence of many security guards. "As president, I think they gave him certain things that they felt were appropriate because of his status," Glenn Zeitz, a lawyer who works with Reginald Stambaugh, told the New York daily. "There is absolutely no legal basis on which he can rely to use the property both as a residence and as a club," he added to The Post. He's not going to intimidate people or bluff, because we're going to be watching. ”
The news comes as Melania Trump is, according to CNN, to fly there discreetly this weekend to monitor the progress of the work started to expand the quarters of the family and those of her parents, who will also move to Florida. She has already been there earlier this month to visit a private school in Fort Lauderdale where her son Barron could be enrolled as of January 20. Donald and Melania Trump are not the only ones considering a move to Florida: Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have acquired a $ 30 million piece of land on a private island where they could settle, failing to return to live in Manhattan, where the four-year Trump presidency has damaged their social status.
