Trump leaves Florida and heads north for the boreal summer
With the same certainty with which the seasons change, Donald Trump changes his main residence.
After establishing Mar-a-Lago, his luxurious Palm Beach, Florida complex, as his home and office for the past four months after occupying the White House, Trump moved his home base a week ago to his golf club in Members-only Bedminster, NJ, where he will reside for the rest of the spring, summer and early fall, a senior official on the former president's team has confirmed to CNN.
Several members of Trump's post-presidency staff have also moved and are working from a space in Bedminster, but will make regular visits to Trump's offices in Trump Tower in Manhattan, according to another person with knowledge of the operations.
Bedminster is 45 miles west of New York City, in rural New Jersey, aesthetically removed from the metropolitan bustle of Trump's Fifth Avenue headquarters.
The move from the Sunshine State means that Trump's many political contacts will visit him in the immediate future for various approvals and discussions particularly in the Garden State. Several, from Senator Ted Cruz, of Texas, to Governor Kristi Noem, of South Dakota, through representatives Madison Cawthorn, of North Carolina, and Matt Gaetz, of Florida, and the newly released candidate for governor of New York, Andrew Giuliani, had made a pilgrimage to South Florida since late January, mostly to visit or seek the endorsement of the former president, who still maintains powerful control over the Republican Party. Fundraisers for Trump-backed political action committees and potential candidates will also move from the hot and humid climate of Florida to that of New Jersey.
Trump is expected to make an appearance at a high-value fundraiser on May 22 in Bedminster for the "Make America Great Again" action supercommittee, which is led by his longtime adviser Corey Lewandowski, a person familiar with it confirms to CNN. with the event.
New Jersey will remain under a mandatory indoor mask rule for the next two weeks, according to statements from Democratic state governor Phil Murphy on Monday. Murphy said he was too early to lift the mandate to wear masks indoors, making New Jersey the only northeastern state to keep the rule in effect following new guidance from the CDC released last week.
However, the rule is unlikely to affect guests who pay thousands of dollars for a ticket to attend. Trump on other occasions has not followed the protocols for the use of masks, and neither have his properties. In March, while face coverings were required in Palm Beach County businesses, establishments and public places, a Covid-19 outbreak affected Mar-a-Lago staff, forcing the dining room and beach club to temporarily close. .
The Bedminster fundraiser will be Trump's first official appearance at the club this season, but the former president has been seen making unofficial rounds in recent days, according to two members who spoke to CNN. As he usually does, he has already spent many hours playing on the club's 36-hole golf course. Over the weekend, Trump performed well enough in a tournament and won a trophy, one of the members said.
Mar-a-Lago «sleeps» during this season
When wealthy people leave Palm Beach at the end of the cold East Coast winter and return, like Trump, to their summer abodes, most popular spots close, including Mar-a-Lago.
"It basically sleeps during the season, like a hibernation," said a Mar-a-Lago member. "The island has no seasonal visitors," said another part-time Palm Beach resident.
Without the hustle and bustle and activities, and without club members standing up and clapping when he and Melania Trump enter the ballroom or dining room patio, the appeal for Trump of living in the massive mansion dissipates. . This year, the members were informed that the Mar-a-Lago beach club and pool would remain open until July 4, longer than normal, but the main house, including the spa, dining room and spaces for events, they will close in the coming weeks. The next time members will be able to rub shoulders with them will be until the end of October, when the winter season kicks off again with the club's annual Halloween party.
However, whether it's his private club in Florida or his private club in New Jersey where, according to CNN, Trump spent more than 100 days in his presidency, the atmosphere is pretty much the same.
Trump's private home in Bedminster, while located on the 200-hectare property, is isolated from the public and has a 465-square-meter "cabin." Near the pool area, with a large balcony and expansive views of the golf course, Trump's elegant New Jersey home is one of Bedminster's few freestanding cabins, most reserved for close friends and family. Melania Trump and her son Barron Trump are also settling into Bedminster for the season, as soon as the youngest Trump's school year in Palm Beach ends, according to a person familiar with it.
A political ally of Trump said that geographically where the former resident is located doesn't matter these days anyway. "Wherever he is living, if someone wants to see him, and he wants to see them, they will come."
