Secret Service agents have stepped up their presence, and the builders are making renovations at Mar-a-Lago, but President Trump could face one more legal battle as he prepares to take up residence at his Florida club.
The terms of his 1993 deal to turn the estate into a private club specifically bars its use as a private residence, potentially complicating Trump’s post-election plans.
“There’s a legal problem with making it his residence,” said Laurence Leamer, who chronicles Trump’s bad-tempered relationship with Palm Beach’s council and his takeover of the estate in his book Mar-A-Lago: Inside the Gates of Power at Donald Trump’s Presidential Palace.
“When he went to the town to make it into a club, part of that deal was that he would not make it his residence.
“The city probably won’t do anything about it. His enemies will.”
The result could be the latest round in a war that has seen Trump at odds with local authorities over everything from the height of his flagpole to flight paths over Mar-a-Lago.
Last year, the Trumps changed their legal residency from New York to Palm Beach, Florida. The move hinted that the first family was preparing for a post-presidency among the swaying palms, Italianate villas, and tax breaks that make the area home to at least 40 billionaires, according to the Palm Beach Daily News.
It marks the latest chapter in the story of Mar-a-Lago, an estate built for cereal-company heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post that was bought by Trump in 1985.
After taking power, he styled it the “Winter White House,” entertaining world leaders (including Brazilian President Jair Bolsanaro and Chinese leader Xi Jinping) while club members looked on across the dining terrace.
Neighbors around the site have spent the past four years navigating security checkpoints and road closures every time the president is in town. Now, they are wondering what comes next.
The rumor doing the rounds among well-connected locals is that Trump will give up the presidency to Vice President Mike Pence and decamp to Mar-a-Lago before his term concludes.
And his former lawyer Michael Cohen recently told MSNBC: “My theory is that at Christmas time, he goes to Mar-a-Lago. I think he will stay there through the inauguration. I would not be shocked if he will not show up to the inauguration either.”
But the 1993 agreement set out that club members could only use rooms for a maximum of seven days at a time. At the time, Trump’s lawyer told a council meeting that the businessman would not live there except as “a member of the club and would be entitled to use its guest rooms,” according to Leamer’s book.
Builders have reportedly begun modifying the Trump family quarters ready for use.
Other changes expected will include the removal of a helipad. Palm Beach, which tries to maintain its genteel atmosphere by banning residents from flying in and out on helicopters, allowed its installation so long as it was used only for official presidential business and that it would be removed when Trump left office.
Neighbors are still waiting to find out what to expect from road closures and security checkpoints and whether other aircraft will be allowed to fly over Mar-a-Lago when a former president is in residence. At present, most are diverted away from the club and use an alternative runway, offering respite from thundering jets.
In 2015, Trump famously launched a $100 million suit against Palm Beach County, claiming that planes were being deliberately routed over his club. It said that the noise and vibrations were causing cracks to open in tiles and stone flooring.
It followed a 1995 lawsuit over noise that ended with the county leasing Trump the land where he built a golf club.
Larry Casey, a Republican operative who lives nearby, said Trump would not be deterred from living at Mar-a-Lago by another squabble with local authorities in order to take advantage of the state’s famous tax benefits.
“I think it’s where he’s going to be no matter what,” he said. “If you spend six months in Florida, you don’t pay any state taxes.”
