The issue for the small prosperous town of Palm Beach was Trump’s promise not to call Mar-a-Lago home. Trump bought the former estate of Marjorie Merriweather Post in 1985 and made it a club only in 1993.
To convert the private home into a revenue-generating business, he had to agree to certain restrictions, based on guidelines offered as a Palm Beach agreement. The agreement stipulated that members may not live at the club for more than 21 days a year. Neighbors of the former president have complained to the city that Trump has violated the agreement he signed.
City Attorney John “Skip” Randolph informed the council that the main issue was not the agreement, which he said was silent on whether Trump could live at the club. He rather says that Trump is the employee of the club. City destination allows a ‘bona fide employee of the club’ to live with the clubs where they work or own.
Trump’s longtime lawyer in West Palm Beach calls the whole thing ‘silly’, because after Trump left the Oval Office last month, he regained his ‘presidency of Mar-a-Lago’.
Attorney John Marion argued before the council that there was no provision in the agreement prohibiting Trump from living at the club, adding that “the zoning code says he also has the right to live there.” He submitted documentation to the council, signed by Trump on January 25, 2021, to verify that Trump is again president of Mar-a-Lago.
“There’s no prohibition in the owner using the owner’s suite,” Marion said. “This man (Trump), while wandering around the property, is like the mayor of Mar-a-Lago, if you will.”
“He’s always there, he owns the property and enjoys it like his home,” Marion added. “There is no reason in the world that President Trump cannot live at the club he owns.”
Trump’s attorney continues with the list of functions the former president performs while living and working at the club, saying he ‘evaluates the performance of employees’ and attends’ events held at the club, and welcomes / thank those who attend.
A lawyer for one of Trump’s neighbors and the first to ask the city to investigate the matter so they could return to a “peaceful life,” Roger Stambaugh told the council. with Mar-a-Lago in 1993. “
A representative of a group of Palm Beach residents said they were concerned about the property being pulled for supporters of the former president.
“We feel this case threatens to make Mar-a-Lago a permanent beacon for its more rabid lawless supporters,” attorney Philip Johnston told the council.
Johnston asked the council to postpone the decision on whether Trump is an honest employee of the club to give all parties the opportunity to prepare a legal response.
The council made no decision on Tuesday. The issue is expected to be re-examined in the spring.
“It’s a very disillusioned place,” Laurence Leamer, historian and author of “Mar-a-Lago: Inside the Gates of Power in Donald Trump’s Presidential Palace,” told MSNBC last month. He said members were “not worried about politics and they said the food was not good.”
Leamer said he spoke to a number of former members who “quietly walked out” after Trump left office.