President Trump is in Florida this weekend at his Mar-a-lago estate, an ugly edifice in Palm Beach built in the 1920s. Presumably he’s there to watch the Superbowl and eat some popcorn!
I wondered how he came to own it, so did a little research. It was built by Marjorie Merriweather Post with the view to making it a Presidential Florida White House. But all presidents eschewed it …. up to now. But how Trump came to own it says a lot about the man and how he goes about getting what he wants. It does not make pretty reading.
The Mar-a-Lago Purchase
Mar-a-Lago Main Entrance
By tommietheturtle from Palm Beach, United States
Trump bought the place in 1985 for under $8M after the Post family rejected his initial offer of $15M. How can that be, I hear you say. For an unscrupulous businessman that’s easy. He just threatened to block the estate’s view of the ocean and down the price tumbled.
The Flag Pole
In 2006 he erected an 80ft flag pole on the site, even though the town’s zoning laws limit such things to 42ft. I guess he did not get planning permission like law-abiding citizens would do. The town fined him $1,250 a day, so he sued the town. It was eventually settled and he paid nothing to the town but got a variance to make it 70ft high and it just cost him $10k to a charity. Of course, now he’s President he can have a pole as high as he wants, so I guess he got the last laugh.
Noise
The facility is also a club and holds concerts that frequently violate local noise ordinances. But it is also on the direct flight path into Palm Beach International Airport, so has repeatedly launched lawsuits to prevent planes flying overhead and disturbing him. One succeeded in get approach patterns changed by the FAA. The courts disallowed 4 of the suits but Trump dropped the other 2 as soon as he became President. As the facility now has a no-fly zone around it the need for them disappeared. Last laugh number 2!
The Past Foretells The Future
So the lesson here is that, if you want to know what the future brings, history is a very good teacher.
Please share if you enjoyed reading this. Thanks.
Source: Wikipedia
Recent Comments