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reOnald Trump left the White House on Wednesday with the promise: “We will be back.” But on Thursday, the now-former president of the United States was waking up to a different reality as the newest of Florida’s 4.5 million seniors with time on their hands.
Visually, at least, the early days of Trump’s post-presidency will look a little different than the last days in office. A Secret Service steel ring surrounds their Mar-a-Lago resort on the island of Palm Beach; nearby roads are closed to locals and the curious; and the tees of the beloved golf courses you’ve visited so frequently over the past four years await your imminent presence.
But with the loss of the trappings of presidential power comes an unknown challenge: How does a disgraced and twice accused former president chart a path forward as a private citizen and retain political relevance in the face of an upcoming Senate trial that could see him excluded? of a future career in the White House?
“I think it will be set up in Palm Beach as the headquarters of his post-presidential Maga movement,” Palm Beach County state attorney Dave Aronberg told The Guardian, referring to the Make America Great Again mantra of Trump’s single term in office. .
“It’s definitely going to create drama, commotion, traffic and a lot of media attention. He will continue to be a lightning rod and will continue to be the talk of the town while he’s here. “
“I don’t think it will change the way people think about him, he will always have his followers and he will always have his detractors.”
Impeachment is just one of Trump’s headaches on his return to private life. Attorneys have written to Palm Beach commissioners who represent neighbors who don’t want you there. An agreement Trump signed decades ago, they insist, prohibits him from residing at Mar-a-Lago, a designated resort, for more than seven consecutive days and 21 days in a year.
Trump has clashed with authorities before, suing the city of Palm Beach for $ 25 million in a dispute over the height of a flagpole and fighting for the construction of a helipad that now must be demolished.
“Donald Trump has had a history of disputes with the city of Palm Beach and this is no different,” Aronberg said. Even during his presidency there was a dispute over the installation of a boat dock at Mar-a-Lago and the people forced him to withdraw his application. Even the chandeliers of the great ballrooms were the subject of litigation.
“So this is nothing new, it is just the latest chapter in the ongoing saga between Donald Trump and the city of Palm Beach. The contract could prohibit him from living in Mar-a-Lago, but I think the dispute will end in an agreement, as it usually happens with these things, “said Aronberg.
In his farewell speech from the Andrews military base on Wednesday, Trump promised, “We will return in some form,” which is believed to refer to talk that he intends to return to the presidency in 2024. A day earlier, In a video message from the White House, Trump said, “The movement we started is just beginning.”
Florida, where Trump is surrounded by friends and supporters, would appear to be the ideal place to build such a campaign. The Republican governor of the state, Ron DeSantis, is fiercely loyal. Florida has two Republican senators, one of whom, Rick Scott, voted against certifying Joe Biden’s electoral victory; and several other right-wing politicians in the state have carried the Trump flag, most notably Congressman Matt Gaetz.
“Florida is Trump’s country and always will be. Look at the people here, your people, we stand behind you, ”Julio Ramírez of the Latinos for Trump group said Wednesday as he joined thousands of Trump supporters waving flags along the route from the Palm Beach airport that the former president caravan led to Mar-a-Lago.
“He is not going to relax here, I can assure you. He said he would be watching what happens with Biden and he will. “
Thomas Kennedy, a newly elected member of the Democratic National Committee representing Florida who voted twice for Trump, agrees with the assessment. Kennedy also wonders if the “somehow” part could be a reference to Trump’s daughter and adviser, Ivanka, who with her husband, Jared Kushner, has bought property in Miami and is said to have her own political ambitions. .
Several flags circulating among supporters who came out to greet Trump on Wednesday carried slogans of “Ivanka 2024.”
“Trump is popular in Florida. He changed his residence to live here, his children will move here, Ivanka and Kushner, Don Jr, Eric and Tiffany, will be present, “Kennedy said.
“There are rumors that Ivanka will run against [Florida senator Marco] Rubio or Don Jr will run for some kind of political office and I certainly think they will become a plague. “
Another reason Trump feels at home in Florida is the plethora of right-wing alternative media based here, including Newsmax and the Rush Limbaugh Show. However, a previously ultra-loyal stream of support for Trump in Florida appeared to have been exhausted on Wednesday when the Miami-based Proud Boys reconsidered and declared the former president a “total failure.”
One more annoyance for the recently retired Palm Beacher will be the low flight over Mar-a-Lago. During the four years of the presidency, flight routes in and out of Palm Beach International were diverted for security reasons. That privilege ended Wednesday, and one of the first planes to disrupt Trump’s peace and quiet was, perhaps appropriately, the empty Air Force One on its way back to Washington.
