Mar-a-Lago members quitting ‘sad, dispirited’ club following Trump’s return
Former club goers no longer want to be associated with the former president
A new book revealed how the energy at Mar-a-Lago has shifted since former President Donald Trump lost the election and left office.
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During an interview on MSNBC, author of the book Mar-a-Lago: Inside the Gates of Power at Donald Trump’s Presidential Palace, Laurence Leamer shared a detailed status about current events inside the prestigious club. He described members leaving and a general dislike of the twice impeached 45th president among local residents.
“I’ve talked to a bunch of people in the last couple of days, a lot of people have quit Mar-a-Lago. They don’t want their names to be on the Washington Post or the New York Times, in a list of people who quit, but they’ve silently walked out. They don’t want to deal with Donald Trump. Many of the members are not going there very often. It’s a very dispirited place,” he remarked. “It’s a sad place for Trump to be hanging out. It’s not what it was.”
Leamer continued to describe how a community who once supported Trump have turned their backs on the former POTUS.
“These people paid up to $200,000 to get in because he was president and I don’t think they’re going to pay that anymore. It’s just another measure of how his power declined. Even in Palm Beach where many people were for him simply because they wanted low taxes and a booming stock market, they’re walking away from him,’ he said. “Even here, people don’t like him.”
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According to the Washington Post, in December, neighbors of the property shared they did not want Trump to move in and, in fact, stated it was illegal. A letter issued by a lawyer for the Mar-a-Lago neighbors said that Palm Beach would “avoid an embarrassing situation” by notifying Trump he would not be allowed to live there versus moving in and being forced to leave.
The letter stated Trump lost his legal right to live at Mar-a-Lago after signing an agreement in the early 1990s when he converted Mar-a-Lago from his residence to a private club.
“There’s absolutely no legal theory under which he can use that property as both a residence and a club,” said Glenn Zeitz, a neighbor of the property, according to the Post.
“There is no document or agreement in place that prohibits President Trump from using Mar-a-Lago as his residence,” said a Trump business organization spokesman who spoke on the condition of anonymity to the news outlet.
Trump was welcomed to the resort with banners that read in all caps, “Trump worst president ever,” and “Trump you pathetic loser go back to Moscow.” Two planes flew the banners over Mar-a-Lago on Sunday.
CBS News reported that since the Capitol Riots, which resulted in the second Trump impeachment, many had changed their views on the former president, which resulted in a disdain toward his associated businesses, including Mar-a-Lago.
“West Palm Beach, where we are right now is extremely Democratic,” said local political reporter Christine Stapleton. “Since the Capitol riots, there has been a real shift in whether or not Mar-a-Lago will continue to be a venue that GOP and conservative groups want to have their events there.”
Dave Aronberg, state attorney for Palm Beach County and a Democrat, said Trump may attempt to use politics to sway the courts in his favor. Overall, he revealed most residents are a fan of privacy and do not want the spectacle of Trump to bring unwanted attention to their community.
“He may say in court that the town and everyone knew that he was living there and never sought to enforce this agreement until now when they started to disagree with his politics,” Aronberg said to the news outlet. “Even his supporters on Palm Beach, and there are many supporters on the island, but even they don’t want the drama, the commotion that President Trump will bring to the island, because that’s why they move there. They like their privacy. They like their quiet. And this will disrupt a lot of things on the island.”
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