I’ve maintained for some time now that Trump is trying so desperately to stay in the White House because of all of the legal and financial issues that will be facing him when he leaves. It turns out that there might be an additional reason that Trump is trying so hard to fight his upcoming eviction – he might not have a place to live in his new home state of Florida. It turns out that his potential neighbors in Palm Beach aren’t exactly welcoming him with open arms.
“In a demand letter delivered to the town on Tuesday—which was also addressed to the U.S. Secret Service (ex-presidents and first ladies get lifetime protection)—local residents reportedly said that once Trump becomes a former president, they expect Palm Beach authorities to once again enforce a 1993 agreement which changed Mar-a-Lago from a single-family residence to a private club controlled by a Trump-owned corporation. Under the agreement, members are not permitted to stay at the resort for more than 21 days a year or more than seven days consecutively. Additionally, prior to town officials voting to approve the club, Trump’s personal attorney assured the Palm Beach town council that he would not be living on the property”.1
No doubt this whole agreement that Trump entered into way back in 1993 was part of some slick maneuver to avoid taxes or skirt some other regulation which now is coming back to bite him in the butt. I think this will be extremely entertaining to watch how this plays out. There will most certainly be lawsuits. After all, litigation and golf are two of Trump’s favorite hobbies. However, given that there are a lot of very well-heeled residents of Palm Beach, they will most assuredly have the financial resources to wage a legal battle with Trump. And now that Trump no longer has the DOJ at his disposal, all the legal expenses for any kind of a fight will be borne by Trump himself. He won’t like that at all!!
If he is not able to live at Mar-A-Lago, he is likely to have a couple of problems. It’s unlikely that Melania will be happy. That can’t be good. And, he might have to buy another place to live in Florida since that is his new home state where he is registered to vote. It is unlikely that he will be able to buy a place as posh and expansive as Mar-A-Lago so he might have to adjust his lifestyle a little. However, since he is “really, really rich” [Trump’s own words] it probably won’t be a problem. Unless, of course, he is not as rich as he claims to be. But then, why would he lie?
In Trump’s favor, it is a good time to buy real estate. Mortgage rates are at historic lows. I just refinanced my own place. Of course, there is the question about which bank would be willing to give Trump a sizable mortgage. There are those pesky questions on loan applications about previous bankruptcies. In addition, the fact is that US banks got to the point where they would no longer make loans to Trump and his company because of all of the defaults they suffered. That is what drove Trump to start going overseas to places like Deutsche Bank. He would probably have to also disclose the outstanding loan of around $450 million that is coming due in the next three or four years. Finally, when you sign these loan applications, there is that little clause that says something to the effect that everything in the application is true under penalty of law. Trump and his organization are already under investigation by the State of New York regarding some loan applications and he probably doesn’t want another state after him so he would have to tread carefully here.
It’s no small wonder this man is having a meltdown. He is getting fired from his job and evicted from the White House. It seems like he doesn’t really have a place to live in Florida that is ‘move-in’ ready. And, he is certainly aware that he is unwelcome in New York City if he chose to move back into Trump Tower on Fifth Ave in Manhattan. Not to mention that the New York Attorney General would have a lot easier time serving him with papers if he were to do that.
There are currently millions of Americans who are out of work and many who are on the verge of eviction due in no small part to Trump’s massive bungling of the national response to the COVID pandemic. Rather than focus his attention on trying to govern and help people who desperately need help, he has essentially abdicated his job in favor of chasing baseless conspiracy theories to try to overturn the election.
So, Donald, you lost your job, you’re about to be evicted and you don’t know where you are going to live. There are a few million Americans who would like to say, “Welcome to the club.”
The US constitution makes no mention of how a president should be removed if they lose an election and refuse to hand over power to their opponent. Legally, he has until Biden gets sworn into office on January 20 and the term of office officially starts at 12:00 noon. The question is who will order the eviction of the President and what type of force will be used.