Donald Trump receives a lot of support from billionaire neighbors in Mar-a-Lago

From: Emelie Svensson

Published: October 31, 2020 at 10:37 p.m.
Updated: October 31, 2020 at 10.50pm

PALMERAS BEACH. On an island off the coast of Florida is Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump’s home and refuge outside the White House.

The neighborhood is home to some of the richest people in the United States, and several are members of the president’s exclusive club.

Aftonbladet has visited the streets full of billionaires, where many neighbors are his most dedicated fans.

Mar-a-Lago’s peach tower can be seen from afar as you cross the bridge into Palm Beach. Trump is not in his place, so there are usually even more obstacles. But the doors of the house are heavily guarded by guards.

Here it is impossible to put the tip of the nose, if you are not a member of the club or you are not invited.

It is to this oasis that the President goes on days off, and that is probably where he moves in after time in the Oval Office. Last year, Trump officially changed his address from New York to Florida.

His closest neighbors live on Woodbridge Road. There are thirteen houses here, and in a two-story villa with a sports car in the driveway, stands 58-year-old George Buff.

– I look directly at Mar-a-Lago from here, he says from the stairs, and his chalk-white smile dazzles.

It’s Friday afternoon and soon his friends are showing up so they can visit Trump’s club on the other side of the hedge together. George has been there for countless lunches, galas, and parties.

Everyone on the street has received free Mar-a-Lago membership, due to the inconvenience that often arises when living next door to the president.

For everyone else: $ 200,000 in membership dues.

Trump flags fly from a balcony across the street, and signs can be seen in flower beds supporting the famous local.

The street known as the “Billionaires Row” winds along the beach, where colossal buildings adorned with arches and marble statues. The lawns appear to have been cut with pinpoint precision, and the seven-meter-high hedges are turned into rectangles.

The world of billionaires

About 43 billionaires have one from their homes in Palm Beach, according to Forbes business magazine. Here, an Austrian prince, a Jordanian princess, meet well-known conservative media profiles. But also three from the Trump family: Donald, plus his two sisters Maryanne and Elizabeth.

George Buff says that Palm Beach is a place that sometimes tends to focus on money and status. Among other things, his own family has made a penny after his grandfather invented the first TV dinner tray and aluminum take out cake tins.

Personally, he does not like to play in the superficial world that he can observe in Palm Beach. But living next to the president is exciting, he says.

– It can be demanding, of course, due to the high security. But I am honored as an American citizen to respect that and all that it means to protect the president.

George Buff disappears into the hall where there is a giant gum machine. In the living room there are gleaming silver sofas, a table set with animal carcasses, ornaments with clown shoes, dolls and robots. It could have been a pop art museum.

– I like jobs that make you react emotionally, he says, and continues to the pool at the bottom.

In the garden he has carousel horses and a Ronald McDonald head. George sits in one of the armchairs.

He has lived on the street next to Mar-a-Lago for eight years. She used to live next door, and then Donald Trump was her landlord.

George recounts how at 07:30 a couple of years ago he smoked a cigarette and drank redbull in his underpants in the garden. When Trump walked through the doors. Without prior notice.

– He said “See?” I didn’t understand what he meant, so I asked him, “What, Mr. Trump?” It turned out that he was going to build a ballroom and wanted to see what the extension would look like when the sun came up. He was so excited and it tickled me because he was a visionary, says George.

Four years ago, George voted for his neighbor in the presidential election. This year it was also voted, because he believes that Trump has led the country in the right direction.

– I think it’s better with the devil you know – than with the devil you don’t know, says George and raises his eyebrows.

– I don’t think he’s doing it out of self-interest. Maybe he has a big ego. But I think Biden has more ulterior motives and is a typical politician, he is not Trump. Hopefully, the country and the whole world is ready for him to continue ruling, he continues.

The most important electoral issues for George are the handling of the crown pandemic, the economy and the tensions between black and white in the United States. He knows that Trump is the right man for the job.

– The only criticism I have is that it could possibly spoil the rhetoric a bit. We don’t need to hear from him every day on Twitter, George says.

“And businessman”

Toni Holt Kramer also lives near Mar-a-Lago and has been a member of the club for ten years. He has even created the Trumpettes fan group, to pay tribute to the man in the White House whom he calls a friend.

– I knew he was going to be president. After a couple of years as a member, I said “as great as he runs the club, so well he could help the country.” Because we are in trouble if no one takes care of the economy. And Trump is not a politician, but a businessman, he says.

At Mar-a-Lago, it feels like family, he says. The first time she visited Trump’s property was at a New Years party when she and her husband had just moved in.

– So I told Trump that I felt at home. In fact, it even looks like my second home in California, because the houses were designed by the same architect. It’s like a “mini-Mar-a-Lago,” says Toni.

You like to invest in stocks, keep up to date on the world, and are interested in how it affects the market. As a result, he wrote summaries to Trump and sent them to him on Saturdays.

– I even used to write “Dear Mr. President”, because I wanted to encourage you to run. He used to say that he was the only one who could save the country, he says.

In April 2015, he sneaked past her and whispered “I’m going to run,” she says. So she didn’t understand if it was a joke or not.

– But a couple of months later, he made that familiar entrance on the Trump Tower escalator and told the whole world about it. Then I screamed with happiness, he says.

Sometimes he thinks it can be tricky when the roads are closed and Trump visits his Florida residence. She is then forced to take a few detours, but she doesn’t think there is anything special to complain about.

– It’s exciting that a person you knew as a friend, suddenly became president. Especially when it’s something I’ve been waiting for a long time. And the fact that the Secret Service is everywhere, I think it’s “cool” and cool. The guards often know who I am, that allows my ego to jump, he says.

Your friend Sher Kasun, 68, is also Trumpette and lives nearby. She gets out of her car in high heels, with a Chanel necklace hanging around her neck, and says she grew up a Democrat but met a conservative husband. That also made her a Republican, and today she is “in favor” of Trump’s side.

– We have known the family for many years and we have seen Trump’s children grow up, get married, have children. It is amazing the successful children he has raised. Of course, Trump may not be polished, but he grew up on construction sites and is a New Yorker, he says.

– We love having you here and seeing you as a friend. People don’t realize what a big heart you have, he continues.

Security for $ 60,000

There are also neighbors who have complained about Trump’s frequent trips to Mar-a-Lago. According to CNN, security cost $ 60,000 in overtime per day for local police when the president was in town in 2017, which local taxpayers risked paying, but were later compensated.

Sher says they are used to all the obstacles by now. Instead, he wants to highlight how great it feels to have a relationship with the country’s president and that he can sometimes come to speak at the tables set up in Mar-a-Lago. She herself has been a member from the beginning.

– I am the queen of Mar-a Lago! I have a special table and sometimes all my friends are teased because I have such close contact with all the staff. They often say, “Talk to Sher, she fixes everything.”

This weekend, a huge Halloween party will be held at Mar-a-Lago. Sher Kasun will disguise herself as “Fake News”. George Buff is considering going there as an actor Jack Nicholson.

– Heard I’m like him. Sometimes I’ve heard the Secret Service say “here comes the one like Jack Nicholson” so the costume will be perfect.

During the 2016 election, Trump did it hard in Palm Beach. In the Mar-a-Lago district, he got nearly 64 percent of the vote, and Trump also won the entire key state of Florida four years ago.

This year, opinion polls between him and Joe Biden are similar, and the state is expected to decide whether Trump can take the White House home again.

The neighbors, Toni, Sher and George, are convinced that he will win a landslide victory.

– But there are many here who really do not want to admit that they are Trump supporters. Which is strange I think. This is our president, he should be proud to say that. At least it’s me, says George.

Published: October 31, 2020 at 10:37 p.m.

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