Meanwhile, President and First Lady Melania Trump is renovating their private quarters in Mar-a-Lago to prepare for a permanent return. And, with a view to their political future, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump allegedly bought a million-dollar property in an exclusive part of Miami. The Trump children plan to spend more time in Palm Beach unless Eric’s wife, Lara Trump, according to a person close to the family, will eventually run for Senate in North Carolina.
Collectively, the moves will inevitably make the Palm Beach area and Florida apply to the MAGA movement, giving Trump easy access to potential donors and some of his most committed allies as he plans a potential 2024 comeback bid. Unlike previous presidents, such as Barack Obama and George W. Bush, who quietly entered their post-presidency and worked time on their books or picked up oil paintings, Trump is expected to cannon his next chapter through his political base. to hold. with the help of his family, opposed the Biden administration on Twitter and holding MAGA events. Supporters will continue to flock to Palm Beach, albeit for many years residents, who see their neighborhood as a quiet enclave above politics and the president is fighting over a permanent move to Mar-a-Lago.
“You see a lot of conservative influencers talking about Florida and it creates an environment where … people are looking for safe havens where their ideology manifests in the world around them,” said Blair Brandt, a Palm Beach political consultant. . and Republican fundraising that served as co-chair of finance in Florida for Trump’s re-election campaign.
The president’s expected move to Palm Beach is part of a broader move by prominent Trump-backed Republicans to head south to Florida. According to Bloomberg, real estate stocks in Palm Beach are down 75 percent due to high demand, and the island’s exclusive clubs, such as Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, have long waiting lists.
Some Trump allies and prominent conservatives have recently moved to South Florida – including Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, who moved from Los Angeles, and Fox News star Tucker Carlson, who is a legal resident of Florida. Radio host Rush Limbaugh has a home in Palm Beach, and Trump-friendly Newsmax, run by Chris Ruddy, a longtime friend of Trump, is in West Palm Beach.
Trump has long delighted in the attention he has received at his Mar-a-Lago club, which has become a passing destination for fans and a place for the president’s allies to see and be seen. Last week, Turning Point USA held its black tie gala at the resort – a who-who of Trumpworld, with White House officials like press secretary Kayleigh McEnany taking selfies with maskless young fans.
During his most recent visit, however, the president did not mingle with the guests as he had in the past, according to one club member. Some members paid $ 1,200 for gala tickets at the club on New Year’s Eve, hoping to catch a glimpse of the president and first lady and be entertained by 90-year-old rapper Vanilla Ice, but were disappointed when the president suddenly decided has to return to Washington early for reasons unknown.
But with the end of the watch of his term, Mar-a-Lago’s expanded environment is expected to become the new home for the Trump movement in exile.
Trump “adds a stronger quality there on a much more permanent basis,” former White House and Newsmax anchor press secretary Sean Spicer said. The idea that Republicans in Florida have good access to the president is a big deal. It’s a big deal to have the president’s power and Palm Beach is already a giant fundraising destination for Republican candidates. ”
Brandt noted that his work as a fundraiser, which connects wealthy conservatives in Palm Beach with the Republican Party, will get a welcome boost with Trump being constantly in the area.
“He’s going to translate the power of the presidency into a political machine, which no one has done in Trump’s way before,” Brandt said. “But having someone like Trump who is an operator and needs things to do can have a huge impact on Republican fundraising.”
But while GOP employees in Florida like to revolve around the new center of the Republican universe, many longtime residents roll their eyes. As they sigh with relief that the traffic jams due to the road closure are coming to an end, they are anxious about what Trump’s permanent presence could mean – including a potential presidential library and museum that would be a tourist destination for the MAGA world can become. . One Trump adviser even envisioned a Trump-themed amusement park.
“I completely understand why he and his whole family want to be in Florida,” said Matthew Swift, a Palm Beach resident and founder of the Concordia Summit, who is not biased. “The president is incredibly popular here,” he remarked, but added, “people are certainly curious about how it will work with the development of a presidential library and any other center the president plans to develop.”
No matter what, Trump will still have a detail of the secret service, but not the kind of security footprint – with obstacles and flying areas – that a sitting president is.
Before Trump even formally moved to Palm Beach, some potential neighbors had already expressed concern that he was living full-time at what he calls his “Winter White House,” claiming he had agreed not to use the club as a full-time residence. . In the past, the president has clashed with the city over planes flying over the club, and he is expected to shake heads with the community over the use of his helicopter farm on property.
Several people near Trump have said that although renovations are underway at the club, the small size of his Mar-a-Lago space may push him to find other property in Palm Beach, and they expect him to have a separate house on the island will buy. .
Yet some Palm Beach residents, even those who are Trump supporters, say at the end of the day, nothing will really change.
‘Palm Beach has always been a place above politics, if you will. It’s not about Democrats or Republicans or Rush Limbaugh or whatever, ”said Guido Lombardi, a Mar-a-Lago member and Palm Beach resident. “Some people pay attention to the personalities they feel like they have to shake hands with.”