Yesterday afternoon I drove past Mar-A-Lago, the home of our beloved 45th, and possibly 47th, president. The road in front of this opulent club was closed until after the election to all traffic after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, which was not greeted with enthusiasm by local residents. In fact, the mayor of Palm Beach instructed the Town Council to research whether the 500-member beach club could be closed down until the road reopened. Which prompted negotiations with the Secret Service and resulted in the road being closed only when Trump was not in residence, thus allowing me to take the photograph on the left as I was driving past.
The story of how Trump acquired this home is fascinating. It was built by Marjorie Merriweather Post, the Post Cereals heiress, back in 1923. When she passed away in 1971, she left it to the U.S. Government in hopes it would become a Winter White House. It was never used as such, and the government gave it back to the Post Foundation, which put it up sale for $20 million. Donald Trump offered $15 million, which was rejected. He then bought the land between Mar-A-Lago and the ocean for $2 million and stated that he intended to build a house on the lot that would block Mar-A-Lago's beach view. Interest in the estate from other parties dropped dramatically, and Trump eventually got the house for $7 million. What a guy! No wonder so many Evangelical Christians love him. Sounds like a wonderful human being to me. And by the way, how would you like having to guard the entrance to a Trump-less Mar-A-Lago in all the heat and humidity of South Florida, like that Palm Beach Sheriff's Deputy in the photograph on the right? Looks like a fun job to me.
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