Even as Democrats and Republicans began their wrangling in Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial in Washington, the town council in Palm Beach FL debated something of more personal concern for the former president:
Should he be allowed to continue to living at his Mar-a-Lago resort?
Not long ago, that question appeared to be settled in Trump’s favor. But some of Trump’s neighbors remain concerned about their property values if he stays, and council members are paying attention.
The council’s focus on Tuesday was a deal reached in 1993, when Trump’s lawyer agreed that he would be barred from living at the resort if the council allowed him to convert it from a residence to a club, reports the Associated Press.
But that promise was not included in a subsequent written agreement.
Trump’s lawyer insists that “because, technically, Trump is an employee of the corporation that officially owns Mar-a-Lago — and the written agreement only bars members from living there,” the AP says. “Under town regulations, a club can provide onsite housing to its employees.”
“Trump clashed frequently with the town and its mostly staid residents over the club’s operation even before he became president,” the AP says. “Neighbors complained about noise, traffic and a car lot-sized U.S. flag and its 80-foot pole, which Trump erected in 2006 without proper permits.”
“The two sides eventually settled: Trump got a shorter pole … then put the pole on a mound so it would still rise to 80 feet.”