Private Presidential Profiting

Is Trump profiting from the Presidency? Yes. Is it unethical? Yes. Sigh! Since taking office Trump spends a lot of time at his Florida Property in Palm Springs called Mar-a-Lago. It took three years to build the lavish 20 acre shore estate from 1924-1927. Yes it is lavish and opulent in comparison to the White House or even Camp David which is where most Presidents live and relax. Not the Donald. He prefers jet setting to his Trump Tower in New York City where his wife and son still lives or jet setting to the Florida estate at the taxpayer’s expense. He has already cost us millions of dollars just in secret service security and town security in both places. He also now has the advantage that no planes can fly over these properties also for security purposes.

There are tiles all over Mar-a-Lago that say PLVS VLTPA that means beyond the ultimate. Fitting to Trump’s personality. The elegant dinosaur was vacant for a while till Trump bought it in 1986. Palm Beach is an island off the coast of Florida and was a pretty exclusive place until Trump was a gate crasher and demanded attention there. No Kidding? At the time of his arrival the residents despised him from day one and did everything in their power to get rid of him. Sounds familiar. Trump didn’t care and was going to do what he wanted anyway. He turned the large private estate into a social club for profit. He accepted just about anyone just as long as they could pay and he never questioned where the money came from. Soon there were all types of people descending on the island.

He did it because he was motivated by money and cared about no one. The town fought him about everything. They fought over the height of the flagpole to the increased jet travel to the island. Now that he got himself elected President, no jets fly over the estate and there is more scrutinany to the people who arrive there.  Now they call it the Winter White House. Even in Palm Springs with all the wealthy people who live there they did not believe that Trump could become and did become President. The previous owners of the property would invite friends to stay for free as anyone would for their guests. Donald changed the place into a country club and charged people an initiation fee.  His invited friends till recently had to pay $14,000 dollars in fees and an additional $100,000 initiation fee.

In January now that he is President the fees have changed.  The membership fee has doubled to $200,000 that is non-refundable. The all of a sudden doubling of the fee has most questioning that this is a conflict-of-interest problem. Most say it is unethical and downright greedy profiting over his new status. What happened to being a humble servant to the people? HA! Not this guy. After only 5 days into his Presidency Donald Trump was cashing in and getting full protection over his properties. The relationship between Palm Beach and the Donald has changed. Although it is more crowded there, the locals love all the increased security at no cost to them. Yes, Trump is a hero to the rich.  Before the election no one there said a good word about him. Now they love him. 

No one cares about the threat of this unsecured place to our National Security?  A chunk of money gets you pool side massages, rounds of golf, and breathtaking views of classified documents. Then put on your best dinner attire and join the waitstaff in the dining room for elegant dinners while just a table away from confidential security meetings with Trump and other world leaders. Then retire to comfortable rooms to sleep in with chocolates left on your pillow next to a few loose papers filled with the confidential nuclear bomb codes. Yes Mar-a-Lago where luxury meets with top secret government information!