A Year-a-Lago at Mar-a-Lago
Upon her death, one wealthy cereal heiress had a simple wish—that the 128-room mansion she had built on the Florida coast would become the “winter White House.” (Same.) But apparently, cereal money can only get you so far. Marjorie Merriweather Post donated Mar-a-Lago to the government in her will, but the government subsequently returned it due to its high maintenance cost and because none of the presidents actually wanted to stay in it. However, in a very rich person’s set of twists and turns, some might say that Post’s dream eventually came true, since the property was bought in 1985 on the cheap by Donald Trump, who is now, of course, president.
Others might say that Mar-a-Lago is Trump’s corruption incarnate, which is a much more accurate description of the situation. In January, the club doubled its membership fees from $100,000 to $200,000. By opening their pocketbooks, members of Trump’s clubs—some of them who are lobbyists and federal contractors—often get valuable face time with the president. The Washington Post calculated that Trump’s seven trips to the property cost $6.6 million in public funds.
The estate is perhaps the best example of Trump’s penchant of mixing private and public affairs into one corrupt stew. So what has it been like in the depths of the gaudy abyss filled with Trumps and Trump suck-ups? If only these hallowed cereal walls could talk. Fortunately, with the help of the photographic technology, they can! Here is the year since the election as told by the Mar-a-Lago Instagram location tag:
Some dude hung out with Reince Preibus in February, back when Chris Cillizza was still ranking him as the most powerful person in Trump’s circle.
Remember that time that Trump responded to North Korean ballistic missile tests on an open-air terrace?