Trump's move to Mar-a-Lago divides
Donald Trump will soon be leaving Washington, but for his admirers in South Florida, he remains a hero, and his upcoming move to Mar-a-Lago is great news.
The tempestuous Republican, who is spending his last vacation in his famous club as president, is not unanimous, however.
Some rant against his back and forth between what he calls his "Winter White House" and Trump International Golf which paralyzes traffic. And impatiently await that he is no more than an "ex-president".
According to the official White House agenda, Donald Trump continues, from Florida, "to work tirelessly for Americans," and his days include "a lot of meetings and a lot of phone calls."
In Washington, many elected officials, Democrats and Republicans alike, lament that he focuses most of his time on acrimonious and vengeful tweets rather than on the management of the COVID pandemic, which is wreaking havoc - health and economic - across the country.
But on the sidewalks of West Palm Beach, where some of his supporters like to congregate to see him come back from golf, the excitement is intact.
“We love it,” says Greg Mooney in front of the Corner Store Berto's Bait and Tackle. "To see our president, the most powerful man in the world, pass on this road, it makes us all proud to be Americans."
Along Southern Boulevard, several hundred people had gathered in the middle of the week, waving flags as it passed shouting "Four more years!" or "Stop the theft [of the election)!
2024
Donald Trump's vacation in Florida began in a climate of great political tension. Its refusal, so far, to sign the new $ 900 billion economic stimulus package adopted by Congress has left millions of Americans in doubt.
After January 20, when he will have to give way to Joe Biden in the White House, Donald Trump, who is familiar with controversies in Washington, could also face another in Florida.
Some of his neighbors believe that he does not have the right to settle permanently in his luxurious seaside club.
In a letter echoed by the Washington Post, they seized Palm Beach town hall to point out that the real estate mogul had given up the right to live in Mar-a-Lago when he, in the 90s, converted the property into a club for wealthy clients.
The procedural battle promises to be technical and bitter.
But to his staunch admirers in the region, this is just yet another baseless attack on one to whom they have boundless admiration.
They believe that its presence in Mar-a-Lago is above all an extraordinary asset for Palm Beach. And they recall that Donald Trump welcomed distinguished guests there: Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
"A lot of people here just wish they could congratulate him face to face and say 'Thank you for everything you have done,'" said Money, 43.
Like many others, he says he is convinced by the tweets of Donald Trump, who hammers, without evidence, but brandishing various conspiracy theories, that Joe Biden is not the winner of the presidential election of November 3.
Conversely, Roger Everingham, 82, sympathizer of the future Democratic president, believes that it is high time for America to turn the page, and that Palm Beach will be much better for it.
For this man who lives not far from Mar-a-Lago and who assures us that most of his neighbors are Democrats, these pro-Trump rallies are not as spontaneous as they seem.
“They come from elsewhere, they are organized,” he assures us, walking Louie, his chihuahua.
Sunday afternoon, a woman came to express her fed up, nearly two months after the election.
Seated in front of the exit of her golf club, to be sure to be seen by the president - and the small group of journalists who accompany her - she held a sign on which one could read a simple message: "Biden won. , you lost. Accept it and move on ”.
Yet Money is convinced: Donald Trump will not be forgotten.
And if, as some people around him say, he tries his luck again in 2024 for the White House, his Palm Beach fans will mobilize again.
"We will be here in four years!" he assures.
