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Mar-a-Lago, President-elect Donald Trump's Palm Beach resort, sits at the center of MAGA political life, serving as the home to lucrative fundraisers, political meetings, and even FBI raids.
The sprawling estate, however, long predates Trump's rise and stretches all the way back to early 20th century America. From its days as a cereal heiress' home to its current iteration as de-facto political headquarters, the property has generated intrigue and controversy, particularly among the nation's elite.
In 1924, Marjorie Merriweather Post, the heiress to her father's cereal fortune and the country's richest woman at the time, bought a property in Palm Beach, Florida. Three years of construction later, she opened Mar-a-Lago, which translates to "sea to lake." The 20-acre club, nestled between the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Worth, cost about $7 million to build, equivalent to about $100 million today.
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The sprawling estate was constructed in the image of Mediterranean coastal villas and brought together Spanish, Venetian, and Portuguese architectural styles. Post imported stone from Italy, silk panels from Venice. She used Mar-a-Lago to host lavish parties for America's elite, as well as philanthropic events. In January, 1969, the federal government designated the estate a national historic sight, and Congress added it to the register of historic places in 1972.
Post died in 1973 and donated the 114-room property to the federal government in the hopes that it would become a president's "winter White House." After 10 years, the government decided it could no longer justify the maintenance costs, so looked into selling the estate.
Enter: Donald Trump.
Trump bought Mar-a-Lago and many of its furnishings in 1985 for a relatively low sum — around $10 million, or around $29 million today. Originally, Trump used the estate as a private residence, with an opulent interior reminiscent of European palaces. When the Trump Organization ran into financial troubles in the 1990s, though, the property became too expensive to keep up — it cost more than $3 million each year and didn't turn a profit.
Initially, Trump wanted to split up the grounds around the main home and build eight houses named "The Mansions at Mar-a-Lago." He bumped up against Palm Beach officials and historic preservationists, though, and a landmark commission eventually rejected his proposal. His plans thwarted, Trump opened Mar-a-Lago as a club in 1995.
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Under an agreement with the town of Palm Beach, membership at Mar-a-Lago is capped at 500 members. Back then, Trump said the initiation fee cost $25,000. By 2017, that number had jumped up to $200,000, and $300,000 in October, 2024. On top of the initiation fee, members pay annual dues of around $20,000 and there is a reported $2,000 minimum annual dining requirement.
The current value of Mar-a-Lago was a point of significant contention in a civil fraud trial against Trump about his alleged efforts to mislead banks and insurers about property values. Trump had previously said that the estate was worth more than $1 billion and obsessed over the valuation while speaking on the witness stand during his trial, which resulted in a guilty verdict. According to the suit, the Trump Organization valued the property at a high of $739 million between 2011 and 2021.
Though Palm Beach County tax appraisers valued Mar-a-Lago between $18 million and $37 million, that assessment relates to its net income as a club rather than its value as a home. Prosecutors in the civil fraud case said it should be valued at $75 million.
The resort recently hiked up the initiation fee once again, raising it to $1 million. Membership grants access to the dining facilities, spa, pool, beach club, guest rooms, fitness center, tennis courts, and croquet lawns.
There are no restaurant menus available on the Mar-a-Lago website, which advertises themed dinners, fashion show lunches, and a seafood night. The resort is also available for events like weddings, though no prices are listed on the website for those services or rooms, either. In order to host an event at Mar-a-Lago, one needs to be sponsored by a current club member. Trump and Melania had their wedding reception at the estate.
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Applications to join the club soared after Trump won the presidency in 2016. Membership lists are generally kept private, though those reviewed by media outlets have included Wall Streeters, real estate moguls, and campaign donors. Among them are former New England Patriots manager Bill Belichick, oil refiner Bill Koch, and real estate mogul Robert LeFrak.
Various celebrities have visited the resort over the years, including Celine Dion and Serena Williams. In 1992, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein reportedly hosted a party there.
Despite its financial exclusivity, Mar-a-Lago was inclusive compared to surrounding resorts when it first opened. Trump allowed Jews and African-Americans who had been barred from other facilities to join, and he is thought to be Palm Beach's first private club owner to admit an openly gay couple.
In the decades since it opened, Mar-a-Lago's guest list has become more dominated by Republican lawmakers, lobbyists, tech executives, and MAGA influencers. It's now a hub of Trump's political activity and has unwittingly fulfilled Post's vision of a presidential escape.
In a post on X from two days before his first inauguration, Trump dubbed Mar-a-Lago his "Winter White House." He spent approximately 25% of his first month in office at the resort and had switched his formal residence to Florida by 2019.
Trump has hosted the leaders of at least seven foreign countries at Mar-a-Lago, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. When he was president, Secret Service agents frequently stayed with him at the properties. The cost of an overnight stay is not entirely clear, but in 2017 taxpayers paid as much as $650 per night for each room agents occupied, according to federal records. In 2018, the rate dipped to $396.15 per night.
In addition to hosting meetings at Mar-a-Lago, Trump authorized a missile strike on Syria from the property in 2017.
After leaving the White House in 2017, Trump moved back to Mar-a-Lago despite resistance from neighbors. Some Palm Beach residents objected to his plans, arguing that the 1993 agreement that established the club barred him from doing so. Under the agreement, club members cannot stay at Mar-a-Lago for more than seven consecutive days or 21 days annually, but it does not explicitly say whether Trump can legally live there. Eventually, the town's attorney determined that Trump can legally live at Mar-a-Lago if he's considered an employee of the club, and the town council decided he's a "bone fide employee."
Mar-a-Lago was a favored locale for Trump and his supporters throughout the 2024 campaign. He held various fundraisers at the resort, including meals where tickets could cost tens of thousands of dollars. Trump watched election results roll in from the property, surrounded by family and Elon Musk.
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Trump barely left Mar-a-Lago after winning a second term, turning the estate into his transition team's home base. Corporate CEOs and tech leaders all flocked to the property, which provided the most immediate access to the president-elect.
Since Trump took office in 2917, Mar-a-Lago has been the source of various political and legal controversies, and will likely sit at the center of more ethical questions during his second term.
When presidents leave the White House, they are required to give their records to the National Archives and Records Administration; failing to do so and moving sensitive material to an unauthorized location is a crime. As Trump moved from Washington, DC to Mar-a-Lago, prosecutors said that he and his staff took classified documents with him. The boxes were allegedly scattered throughout the property, including in a shower, on the stage of a ballroom, and in accessible storage rooms. A former White House press secretary testified that she saw Trump show people classified documents on the dining patio at Mar-a-Lago.
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The National Archives worked throughout 2021 and 2022 to regain the material. The Federal Bureau of Investigation eventually raided Mar-a-Lago in August of 2022, seizing thousands of documents, including around 100 that were classified. Jack Smith was appointed special counsel in the Justice Department's probe and charged Trump with illegally retaining national defense information, obstructing justice, and concealing documents. Trump pleaded not guilty to 40 criminal counts.
Trump's lawyers sought to delay the case until after the 2024 election and then have it thrown out entirely. Eventually, the judge dismissed the case on the legally dubious ground that Smith's appointment was improper. After Trump won a second term, Smith abandoned the case based on Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president. Prosecutors could theoretically pick the case back up once Trump leaves office.
Mar-a-Lago has posed security challenges for years, with one former FBI agent calling it a "counterintelligence nightmare." Members can bring in anyone as a guest and there have been incidents of trespassing. The Secret Service has increased its presence at the estate since Trump won the election and the US Coast Guard now monitors waterways nearby.
Two assassination attempts against Trump during the campaign, including one at his Palm Beach golf course, put renewed scrutiny on security concerns. The Secret Service faces challenges when protecting a president outside, particularly on a golf course with large open areas lined by potential hiding places like trees.
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During Trump's first term, lobbyists, politicians, and others spent money at Mar-a-Lago and the Trump hotel in Washington, DC. Foreign officials and corporate executives stayed at both properties, raising fears for some that people could subtly gain influence with Trump by financially supporting his properties. An investigation from the Government Accountability Office in 2020 found that three Mar-a-Lago club members influenced policy decisions at the Department of Government Affairs.
Since Trump sold the DC hotel in 2022, Mar-a-Lago may become the sole go-to hub, as it did for his transition team.
Trump resigned from the Trump Organization, his real estate business, when he took office the first time. At the time, the company promised not to make any new foreign deals while Trump was in office, but it's unclear whether it will reinstate that ban or adopt the same ethics rules. In the past four years, Trump has also started Trump Media & Technology Group, parent company to Truth Social, and ventured into cryptocurrency. Some legal and ethics experts worry that interested parties could also invest in either of those companies to exert influence.
"President Trump is grateful for the residents of Palm Beach, where he makes his home at Mar-a-Lago. He removed himself from his multi-billion dollar real estate empire to run for office and forewent his government salary, becoming the first President to actually lose net worth while serving in the White House," Steven Cheung, Trump's communications director, told BI in a statement.
Representatives for the Trump Organization did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment. Mar-a-Lago does not have a press office.
