Trip to Florida and Trump’s insistence… the story of America’s ‘Sheeshmahal’
On a cold night in 1984, Donald Trump was roaming the streets of Florida. While sitting in the cab, he suddenly asked the driver, which is the most expensive house in Florida? The driver said there is nothing to match Mar-a-Lago here… Trump had heard this name for the first time. He went to see Mar-a-Lago the same night and was stunned to see this luxurious palace spread over 20 acres. He immediately started efforts to buy it. Today Mar-a-Lago remains a center of attraction worldwide. trump it Winter White House They say. After winning the Presidential elections, from choosing the new cabinet to planning for the future, everything happened within the walls of this luxury mansion. But how did Mar-a-Lago’s status rise politically? The answer to this is hidden in the depths of history.
Donald Trump had said some time ago that Mar-a-Lago is the center of the universe. It was clear from his statement that this time Trump is going to give more priority to Mar-a-Lago than the White House. Of course, he will officially run the country from the White House, but the political strategy will be made within the walls of Mar-a-Lago. Billionaire businessman Elon Musk, who holds an important position in Trump’s new government, has been camping in Mar-a-Lago for the last one month. From Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Italian PM Georgia Meloni and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg have held meetings with Trump in Mar-a-Lago.
But today’s Mar-a-Lago was once the home of America’s richest woman. The woman’s name was Marjorie Meriwether Post. This was the time when rumors of economic recession had started in America. There was a kind of panic all around. Meanwhile, Marjorie decided to build a luxurious resort in Palm Beach, Florida, where she could hold royal parties, charity events and costume ball parties.
Blue-eyed, extremely beautiful Marjorie was very fond of parties. He gave a tender to build it as a dream project. Its construction started in 1924 and it was completed in 1927. Named Mar-a-Lago, which is a Spanish word meaning sea to lake. Actually, on one side of it is the Atlantic Ocean and on the other side is a lake.
At that time, Marjorie had spent about 7 million dollars in getting Mar-a-Lago ready, which is around 100 million dollars in today’s time. Mar-a-Lago is considered a masterpiece of its time. Architects Marion Sims Wyeth and Joseph Urban designed it in Spanish and Moroccan style. Marjorie was not only a socialist but also had a lot of interest in politics. She wanted the US government to use Mar-a-Lago as the Winter White House. With this wish in mind, when he died in 1973, he handed over Mar-a-Lago to the US government.
But this luxurious property became a big problem for the American government. Seeing the grandeur of this resort, the government declared it a national heritage within a year. But fearing that crores of dollars would be spent on the maintenance of this luxury property, the government handed it back to the Post Foundation.
Bob Woodward, a senior American journalist and the man who exposed the Watergate scandal and shook President Richard Nixon’s power, has published his book. war It is written in In 1984, when Donald Trump was out on the town one night, he first learned about Mar-a-Lago from a cab driver. He was surprised why he could not know about such a luxury resort earlier. He reached Palm Beach the same night to see Mar-a-Lago and at that very moment he decided that he had to buy it at any cost.
(Image: AI Generated)
Trump’s threat and an insistence…
When Trump learned about Mar-a-Lago during a trip to Florida, he contacted the Post Foundation to purchase it. He had made up his mind that he would buy this property and live there. For this, he expressed his desire to meet the three daughters of Marjorie, the caretaker of Mar-a-Lago. At that time, Trump was only desperate to buy Mar-a-Lago. He met with Marjorie’s daughters and asked them to sell Mar-a-Lago, but Marjorie’s daughters did not agree. She wanted that if Trump wanted to buy Mar-a-Lago, the price should increase further. Trump had understood that Marjorie’s daughters were in no mood to sell Mar-a-Lago. But Trump was also not going to accept defeat. He met Marjorie’s daughters one evening and told them that he had purchased property directly across from Mar-a-Lago and was going to build a big house there. The house will be built in such a way that the sea view from Mar-a-Lago is blocked. On hearing this, the ground slipped from under the feet of Marjorie’s daughters. Trump’s plan worked and Marjorie’s daughters sold Mar-a-Lago to him.
(Photo Credit: Vanityfair.com)
A year after purchasing Mar-a-Lago, Trump told during an interview that Marjorie’s daughters were born with beauty like their mother but they do not have the brains like their mother.
Trump bought Mar-a-Lago in 1985 for $10 million. He later converted Mar-a-Lago into a private club in 1995. Today, Mar-a-Lago is divided into two parts. In one part, there are arrangements for living of Trump and his family, where great care has been taken to privacy. While the other part is Mar-a-Lago Club, where anyone can stay or spend time by taking membership. Apart from guest rooms, there are facilities like spa and five star hotel. But the membership of this club is in crores, due to which only very high profile people can become its members. Trump has also built a ballroom in 20,000 square feet at a cost of $7 million, where he gives luxury parties. The special thing about this ballroom is that it has been completely made of gold. Mar-a-Lago has a kingsize swimming pool, beauty salon, world class spa, five tennis courts and golf course.
Popularity and controversy together
Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago is in headlines across the world today. After losing the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump returned to his home Mar-a-Lago. He was accused of carrying several government and intelligence files with him, after which the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago in August 2021. During this raid, the FBI had recovered 337 government documents from Mar-a-Lago. Of these, top secret was written on 21 documents.
These intelligence files of the US government were hidden in Trump’s bathroom and store room. The intelligence files that Trump hid in Mar-a-Lago included information related to America’s nuclear program and defense and weapons of America and other countries. Trump had kept these intelligence files hidden in the bathroom, store room, ballroom and bedroom of Mar-a-Lago. This was the first case of its kind, when such serious allegations were made against a former President.
What is the world like inside Mar-a-Lago?
At present, Mar-a-Lago has become a gathering place for high profile personalities from all over the world. After winning the presidential election by defeating Kamala Harris, many big personalities have come here and met Trump. From Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Italy’s PM Georgia Meloni and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg have come here. But what is the world like inside it? Lawrence Leamer answers this in his book Mar-a-Lago: Inside the Gates of Power at Donald Trump’s Presidential Palace I have given. It is told in the book that here every day there is a gathering of arrogant rich people, who talk about power and money all the time. Men talk about court cases related to harassment while middle-aged women are seen gossiping about getting rid of increasing weight and facial wrinkles to save their marriage.
Leamer writes in the book that in Mar-a-Lago you will find people making racist remarks and speaking against Jews. Similarly, Les Standiford in his book Palm Beach Mar-A-Lago and the Rise of America’s Xanadu He writes that the boundary wall of Mar-a-Lago has been deliberately made so high to maintain privacy.
Bob Woodward tells in his book War that US Senator Lindsey Graham had drawn parallels between Mar-a-Lago and North Korea. Graham said that going to Mar-a-Lago was like going to North Korea.
It is important to know about Trump that he is a businessman before being a politician or President. Trump said in an interview with Bob Woodward in 1989 that Instinct is more important than anything else. If your instinct is right then you can fix even the worst things. The worst thing I have done in my life was when I did not follow my instincts. Similarly, the most beneficial and good work was done when I did not listen to my people and followed my instincts. Buying Mar-a-Lago is my instinctive decision…
