Trumpworld is preparing to decamp en masse to Florida next week when President Trump leaves office, and his advisers and family plot their futures after an election defeat and a second impeachment.
Some fear rejection from the smart New York social scene, while others want to be near the new Trump HQ as they plot his next move.
Trump’s eldest son Don Trump Jr. is reported to have been house hunting in Jupiter, about half an hour up the road from his father’s Mar-a-Lago estate, while several staffers are planning to rent in affordable West Palm Beach, just across the bridge from the billionaires’ playground of Palm Beach.
But the events of last week, when Trump supporters overran the Capitol, may mean a frostier reception than they expected.
Laurence Leamer, who has a home in the area and is the author of a history of Mar-A-Lago, said Palm Beach was rife with stories of people trying to distance themselves from the Trumps.
“Trump is a man without a nation. They don’t want him,” he said.
The small community’s grapevine is running hot with stories about residents telling their money managers or business associates to quit being a member of Mar-a-Lago or they would take their investments elsewhere.
The genteel world of Palm Beach has long had an uneasy relationship with Trump. It is the sort of place where old money families like to stay away from the headlines, and the arrival of a brash New Yorker made for repeated conflict over everything from the height of a flag pole at Mar-a-Lago to flight paths into the local airport.
They chafed at road closures and roadblocks after Trump became president but gradually began to enjoy the thrill of world leaders flying in for summits at the “winter White House. (Lucky club members could watch from across the dining terrace as Trump entertained the likes of Brazilian President Jair Bolsanaro and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping.)
Secret Service activity intensified at Trump’s waterfront club at the end of last year amid reports that the president’s private quarters were being renovated ahead of the first family’s permanent arrival.
A small political staff will be following him down from the White House. A senior administration official said a small core of staffers had been apartment hunting in West Palm Beach as they prepared for their new roles.
And Don Jr. and his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle are planning to move to Florida, according to the New York Post.
“There is no way they can stay in New York. They’d be tortured in the streets,” a source close to the family told the New York Post.
It means the Trumps are giving up their family ties to New York, where Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday that he was canceling about $17 million of contracts with the Trump Organization.
A source close to the family said Don Jr. will remain active in politics but will take time to work on his family and business life.
He told the Washington Examiner that a home in Jupiter made sense as it is where his ex-wife and five children live. It is also close to a Trump property, the Trump National Golf Club Jupiter.
The president’s eldest daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner have also reportedly bought a $31 million plot on the private island Indian Creek Village, known as Miami’s Billionaire Bunker, where Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen are also expected to move soon.
And Trump’s youngest daughter Tiffany has also been spotted property hunting in Miami.
Austin Cantrell, a former White House spokesman who left last summer to start his own PR firm Cantrell Communications in South Florida, said it was the logical move.
“I anticipate Mar-a-Lago, and by extension all of Palm Beach County, to become the new MAGA Mecca. For Republicans, South Florida is a much better place to live than the district — for one, you don’t have to hide your conservatism like it’s a stain on your shirt,” he said.
“Plus, with no state income tax, year-round summer, and a great governor, I’m not sure why everyone hasn’t already moved here.”
