Mar-a-Lago
Mar-a-Lago is a resort and National Historic Landmark on a barrier island in Palm Beach, Florida, United States. It spans 126 rooms and built on of land. Since 1985, it has been owned by Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th president of the United States.
Mar-a-Lago was built for the businesswoman and socialite Marjorie Merriweather Post between 1924 and 1927, during the Florida land boom. At the time of her death in 1973, Post bequeathed the property to the National Park Service, hoping it could be used for state visits or as a Winter White House. However, because the costs of maintaining the property exceeded the funds provided by Post, and because it was difficult to secure the facility, the property was returned to the Post Foundation by act of Congress 96-586 on December 23, 1980.
In 1985, Donald Trump, primarily a businessman and real estate investor at the time, acquired Mar-a-Lago and used it as a residence. In 1995, he converted it into the Mar-a-Lago Club, a members-only club with guest rooms, a spa, and other hotel-style amenities. The Trump family maintains private quarters in a closed-off area on the grounds. During his first presidency, Trump frequently visited Mar-a-Lago and held meetings there with international leaders, including Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese president Xi Jinping.
Etymology
The name Mar-a-Lago means "sea to lake" in Spanish, reflecting the fact that the estate extends from one side of Palm Beach Island to the other, touching the Atlantic Ocean on the east and the Lake Worth Lagoon on the west.History
Design
During the 1920s Florida land boom, Marjorie Merriweather Post, heiress to the Post Cereals business and later the wealthiest woman in the United States, paid for the house to be built with her husband Edward F. Hutton. She hired Marion Sims Wyeth as designer and Joseph Urban for interior design and exterior decorations. Post spent US$7 million. It was finished in 1927.Winter residence of Marjorie Merriweather Post
Hutton and Post regularly used Mar-a-Lago as their winter residence, typically staying from mid January to late March. Post hosted dinner parties, charity events, concerts, costume balls, and a circus.In 1935, Hutton and Post divorced. Post married the Washington lawyer Joseph E. Davies, who was appointed ambassador to the Soviet Union. Mar-a-Lago was closed for five seasons. Post made only brief visits to Mar-a-Lago in the early 1940s and did not stay at the estate from 1941 to 1948. In April 1944 the house was turned into a training center for returning servicemen.
Post returned to Mar-a-Lago in 1948 and began to host social events again. Since 1957 it has traditionally hosted the International Red Cross gala. In 1961 a pavilion with a dance floor was built where square dance evenings were held.
Federal government and foundation
By the 1950s and 1960s, social tastes had changed, and many mansions constructed in the 1920s were demolished. However, in 1969 Mar-a-Lago was designated a national historic site. A contemporary report prepared by the Department of the Interior attributed its significance to providing "an excellent picture of winter resort life in Palm Beach prior to the Depression".Post, who died in 1973, willed the estate to the United States government as a Winter White House for presidents and visiting foreign dignitaries. Richard Nixon preferred the Florida White House in Key Biscayne, however, and Jimmy Carter was not interested. The federal government soon realized the immense cost of maintenance and the difficulty of providing security and returned it to the Post Foundation in 1981. It was listed for sale for $20 million. Post's daughters, including Dina Merrill, did not maintain the property anticipating a sale, but there was so little interest that its demolition was approved.
Mar-a-Lago was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1980 for exemplifying "the baronial way of life of the wealthy who built mansions in Florida during the Florida land boom of the 1920s".
Trump ownership
Donald Trump initially offered the Post family $15 million, which was rejected. Trump then purchased land between Mar-a-Lago and the ocean from Jack C. Massey, the former owner of KFC, for $2 million, stating he intended to build a home that would block Mar-a-Lago's beach view. This threat caused competing interest in Mar-a-Lago to decline. Trump purchased the property for $7 million in 1985. Different sources have put the combined total cost of the purchase at around $10 million. The minimum acceptable bid had been $20 million, and the interior furnishings were appraised at $8 million.Mar-a-Lago, which was renovated by Trump, remained largely true to its original style. Extensive renovations were done, including the addition of a ballroom. The club has five clay tennis courts and a waterfront pool. Trump's wife at the time, Ivana Trump, managed the property.
In 1992, Trump was filmed with Jeffrey Epstein at a party in Mar-a-Lago. The footage received attention following Epstein's arrest for child sex trafficking in 2019, and video footage of Trump talking to Epstein in Mar-a-Lago appears in the 2020 mockumentary black comedy film Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. It was also alleged that Mar-a-Lago hosted an event for 28 women in 1992 where Trump and Epstein were the only male attendees. Further photographs of the pair taken at Mar-a-Lago include a photograph of Trump and Epstein from 1997, and a photograph taken on February 12, 2000, with Trump, Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Trump's future wife Melania.
In the early 1990s, Trump faced financial difficulties. While negotiating with bankers he attempted to divide Mar-a-Lago into smaller properties, alarming Palm Beach residents. City council rejected this plan. Trump instead turned the estate into a private club in 1995, fighting what he considered to be excessive restrictions.
The new club hosted concerts by celebrities such as Celine Dion and Billy Joel, and had beauty pageant contestants as guests. Mar-a-lago also had numerous celebrity guests; notably, Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley had their honeymoon there in 1994, and according to his biography Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness Jackson and Presley kissed for the first time at Mar-a-Lago early in their relationship. It still frequently hosted the International Red Cross Ball, an annual "white tie, tails, and tiara" event founded by Post.
In 2000, Virginia Giuffre was a spa attendant at Mar-a-Lago when she was first approached by Ghislaine Maxwell and introduced to Jeffrey Epstein. Giuffre would later go on to make accusations against Maxwell and Epstein for sex trafficking her to clients including Prince Andrew and Alan Dershowitz.
In 2005, Trump married Melania Knauss at Mar-a-Lago. The ceremony was attended by Bill and Hillary Clinton, as well as many other celebrities and figures in media and broadcasting.
According to financial disclosure forms filed by Trump, the Mar-a-Lago Club had $29.7 million in gross revenues in the period of June 2015 through May 2016. The club had revenues of $25.1 million for calendar year 2017, $22 million in 2018, and $21.4 million in 2019.
In 2022, Forbes estimated the value of the estate at around $350 million. In 1995 Trump "gave up the right to use Mar-a-Lago for any purpose other than as a social club" by agreeing to a "Deed of Conservation and Preservation". In 2002, he agreed to a conservation easement preventing further development. According to Forbes, "Real estate experts outside of Palm Beach guessed that the place was worth more than $200 million. Brokers on the island thought it could be worth far more, with the most aggressive estimate coming in at $725 million. When Forbes last valued the property in March, we went with a conservative $350 million." A 2022 lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James alleged that Trump inflated the value of Mar-a-Lago to $739 million, when the property should actually be valued at $75 million.
First Trump presidency
President Trump referred to Mar-a-Lago as his "Winter White House", and on occasion his "Southern White House".During Trump's presidency, a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility was operational at Mar-a-Lago. It was removed after he left office. The SCIF was used for communications with the White House Situation Room and Pentagon. The Mar-a-Lago Crowd, an informal group organized by President Trump which oversaw many of the activities of the Department of Veterans Affairs during the Trump administration, frequently met at the club.
Notable presidential visits
Donald Trump's first visit to Mar-a-Lago as president of the United States took place on the weekend of February 3–6, 2017. On Saturday, he hosted the Diamond Red Cross Ball at the Mar-a-Lago Club, and on Sunday he watched Super Bowl LI at the nearby Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.On the weekend of February 10–12, 2017, President Trump and his wife Melania hosted Japanese prime minister Shinzō Abe and his wife. This was the first use of Mar-a-Lago to entertain an international leader, traditionally performed at the White House. On this weekend one of President Trump's first international security crises happened, a North Korean missile launch. Trump and Abe conferred in full view of the other diners.
During the third weekend visit to Mar-a-Lago on February 17–20, President Trump conducted a campaign rally at the Melbourne Orlando International Airport. He also conducted interviews for a replacement National Security Advisor and named General H. R. McMaster as Michael Flynn's, who had recently been terminated, successor on February 20, 2017.
After President Trump's fourth weekend visit on March 3–5, 2017, questions were raised about the access his paying club members have to him and his entourage. A number of Democratic senators asked the President to release visitor logs of Mar-a-Lago and as well as a list of the members of the private club. Subsequently, the "Mar-a-Lago Act" was introduced, legislation requiring publication of logs of visitors at the White House and other places where the president conducts business. After a lawsuit was filed, a judge ordered, in July 2017, that these logs be released in September.
President Trump's fifth presidential visit took place on March 17–18. Guests included Melania's parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs.
During his next visit April 6–9, President Trump hosted the Chinese president Xi Jinping for the first two days. At Mar-a-Lago, the decision to strike a Syrian airfield was made. The following Easter weekend was also spent with family members at Mar-a-Lago.
On April 4, 2017, prior to Xi's visit, ShareAmerica, a website run by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs, published a blog post describing Mar-a-Lago's history. On April 5, 2017, the U.S. embassy in the United Kingdom's website shared snippets of the original blog post on its own blog, and the U.S. embassy in Albania's Facebook page shared the original post. On April 24, 2017, Democratic senator Ron Wyden, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, and ethics observers like former ambassador Norman Eisen, questioned the use of official government resources promoting a private property owned by Trump. By April 25, 2017, ShareAmerica and both U.S. embassies in the United Kingdom and Albania removed their respective posts. ShareAmerica, replaced their post with the following statement, "The intention of the article was to inform the public about where the president has been hosting world leaders. We regret any misperception and have removed the post."
In November 2017, President Trump returned to Mar-a-Lago for a Thanksgiving celebration, and one month later he returned for his tenth presidential visit during his Christmas vacation.
In 2018, President Trump visited Mar-a-Lago eight times prior to the seasonal closing in May. During this time he had a summit meeting with Shinzō Abe on April 17–18.
In November 2018, President Trump returned to Mar-a-Lago for Thanksgiving. One month later, President Trump canceled his planned Christmas vacation in Mar-a-Lago following the federal government shutdown. In November 2019, he returned to Mar-a-Lago for Thanksgiving, and a month later returned for Christmas.
On March 7, 2020, President Trump hosted Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro for a working dinner, where the two leaders discussed the U.S.-led effort to oust Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, a future trade deal, and peace for the Middle East. Also at the dinner was Bolsonaro's press secretary,, whose wife informed others on social media on March 11, 2020, that he had tested positive for COVID-19 after he had returned from the United States via Miami to Brazil. Others attending the dinner included Vice President Mike Pence, Ivanka Trump, and Jared Kushner.