“I immediately knew it had to be mine.” How Donald Trump—a brash outsider—warped Palm Beach’s exclusionary culture to create Mar-a-Lago as we know it now. VFArchive
n Palm Beach the private club to which you belong is not only your playground: it’s your platform, signaling who you are socially, economically, and culturally. Membership at the Bath and Tennis Club announces your arrival, and survival of an onerous vetting process, including backgrounds and bloodlines. “I know people who moved to Palm Beach, got blackballed at the B&T, and left town,” says one observer.
If you’re Jewish, there was a club for you, too, the century-old Palm Beach Country Club, “the top primarily Jewish club in the country—nothing else even comes close,” says a member. Other members have included Wall Street legend Henry Kaufman; New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft; private-equity-firm chieftain Henry Kravis; Seagram scion Charles Bronfman . . . and, infamously, Bernie Madoff, who found many of his victims there.
Trump instructed his attorney to settle his $50 million lawsuit against the town, and the selling of the Mar-a-Lago Club began, with typical Donald Trump bravado, MAR-A-LAGO CLUB MEMBERSHIP LIST A REAL WHO’S WHO, read a December 12, 1994,headline, noting that Steven Spielberg, Henry Kissinger, Lee Iacocca, Denzel Washington, Michael Ovitz, Norman Mailer, and Elizabeth Taylor, among others, had joined.
“It was quite contentious,” recalls Lesly Smith, who, as president, presided over the meeting of the Town Council. “It was supposed to last for an hour, and I believe it went until two A.M.
“They crawled into one of the Bath and Tennis chairs and were doing the big nasty right beneath the Bath and Tennis’s picture windows with all of the grandmothers having lunch with their grandchildren,” remembers Donnelly, who broke the story in theBut there was one commotion Trump himself couldn’t abide, and it came from above: airplanes flying over Mar-a-Lago.
“In the beginning, [the initiation fee] was up to $250,000—or less—depending on who you knew and how he thought you fit in,” says an informed source. “It was all about him being the greatest P.R. man who ever lived. He’s always saying, ‘This is the greatest! He’s the greatest!’”
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Pomp + Splendor creates one-of-a-kind designer cookiesPomp + Splendor by Chrissy is a Philadelphia cottage bakery making artisanal decorated sugar cookies.
Read more »
'Be Kind:' Philadelphia makes connections via 'Coffee with Strangers'A Philadelphia man is making connections in his community - one cup of coffee at a time.
Read more »
What advice do Houstonians have for parents of kindergarteners? Tell us your pro tips.For the parents who have mastered the art of back-to-school chaos, what advice would you give to parents that you wish you had learned sooner? Click the link below.
Read more »
2023 Toyota Camry Review: Wait, is this Camry kinda cool? | AutoblogThe 2023 Camry represents a model getting on since being redesigned, but remains a well-rounded entry with more style for 2023 thanks to the Nightshade.
Read more »
Ex-rebel takes oath as Colombian president in historic shiftColombia’s first leftist president has been sworn into office, promising to fight inequality and bring peace to a country long haunted by bloody feuds between the government, drug traffickers and rebel groups.
Read more »