President Donald Trump may enjoy making Mar-a-Lago his White House away from the White House, but if this past weekend is any indication, no one else – —not even Mar-a-Lago itself —does.
Trump’s top advisers certainly had a rough weekend. Reince Priebus was left in DC to handle the fallout from Trump’s allegations of Obama-era wiretapping, and, reportedly, as punishment for mishandling internal issues these last several weeks. His failure to control the Justice Department reaction to revelations that Attorney General Jeff Sessions met with the Russian ambassador during the campaign—may mean he’s disinvited from the Florida estate for weeks to come.
Steve Bannon was originally joining Priebus on the “naughty step,” but his freeze-out was lifted Saturday night, once Trump required his expert advice. Bannon, Stephen Miller and Sessions were put to work, “cheering up” the president with talk of temporarily banning travelers from six majority-Muslim nations by executive order.
Sessions was supposed to enjoy his time in Florida, but ended up having to greet the guests of a fundraising gala held on the property. For poor Sessions, that may mean new ethics allegations. Each time Trump attends events at the estate, it makes the $200K Mar-a-Lago membership that much more valuable. If shaking hands with Sessions is being touted as a “door prize” for showing up to political fundraisers in Palm Beach, he may eventually have to disclose that information (and it’s doubtful Democrats will let him get away with saying the interactions were merely perfunctory).
The worst of the weekend’s victims, however, may be Mar-a-Lago itself, or, at least, the surrounding neighborhood. According to NBC News, local residents, business owners and—maybe most importantly—taxpayers, are tiring of the President’s weekend visits.
The local economy of Palm Beach, which relies on tourism, has suffered because of the constant security presence, keeps people away from the town’s shopping and dining district. Flights in and out of Palm Beach airport are grounded for the entire time Trump is in town. The flood of media and personnel every weekend is a boon only for Trump’s own property, which houses most of his top aides while they work at Mar-a-Lago.
Palm Beach County, according to the non-partisan government watchdog group Judicial Watch, has already shelled out $1.7 million for additional law enforcement. They’ve applied to be reimbursed by the Federal government.
Trump’s travel isn’t particularly strange for a president. Barack Obama, NBC mentions, had taken three weekends “off” at this point in his presidency as well—but they probably didn’t end up being so problematic for everyone involved.