Why couldn't Trump live in Mar-a-Lago?
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New York (CNN Business) -
Many loyal Mar-a-Lago members are leaving because they no longer want any connection to former President Donald Trump, according to the author of the latest book about the resort.
"It's a very discouraged place," Laurence Leamer, historian and author of "Mar-a-Lago: Inside the Gates of Power at Donald Trump's Presidential Palace," told MSNBC host Alex Witt on "Weekends with Alex Witt." .
He said members "are not concerned about politics and said the food is not good."
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Leamer said he spoke with several former members who "quietly left" after Trump left office.
Trump moved into the Palm Beach, Florida property after his term ended last week.
But without the prestige of having the president of the United States work on the property, guests find Mar-a-Lago missed a step.
There is no fun on the property during the pandemic, and Leamer added, "It's a sad place… it's not what it used to be."
Member discontent may lead to Trump receiving a lower salary.
When Trump was president, many people paid up to $ 200,000 for Mar-a-Lago memberships, Leamer noted.
He said they do not believe they will continue to pay that price.
Mar-a-Lago has long been ridiculed by critics as a club packed with Trump memorabilia, some of them fake.
Late night host Jimmy Kimmel recounted a visit to the resort on Friday just before Trump took office.
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"You can't overstate how comical it is," Kimmel said on The Ringer's "The Bill Simmons Podcast."
"Everyone there is 100 years old."
Kimmel told Simmons that she went to the resort about six years ago to have dinner with Howard Stern, who lived near the property at the time.
He described Mar-a-Lago attendees as "hunched over people who eat soft food" and said the venue is covered in photos of Trump.
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"It was a quiet and terrible place," Kimmel said.
And now he lives in this terrible place.
Trump's hotels and hospitality businesses were hit particularly hard during the coronavirus pandemic, but sales at the Mar-a-Lago complex increased over the past year, from $ 21.4 million to $ 24.2 million. .
In 2019, the now-former president moved his permanent residence to the Florida resort from Trump Tower in New York.
But questions remain as to whether he will be allowed to live there permanently, as it could violate a 1993 agreement with the city of Palm Beach.
"Even here, people don't like him," Leamer said, referring to Palm Beach residents, many of whom voted for Trump in hopes of cutting taxes and booming the stock market.
"It's just another sign of how his power has diminished."
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