Satellite view of Mar a lago estate

Mar-a-Lago has become a household name recently as its owner, President Donald Trump, has brought a lot of attention to the private club and resort. President Trump, however, was not the first owner of the immense property. It was built at the direction of Marjorie Merriweather Post, heiress to the Post cereal fortune. It took three years to build, completed in 1927.

It cost $7 million dollars, an estimated $100 million in 2020 figures. The name Mar-a-Lago means “Sea to Lake” and refers to the width of the property, spanning the entire width of Palm Beach from the Atlantic Ocean on the East and the Intercoastal Waterway on the west. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1980.

When she died in 1973, Post donated the property to the US government with the intent that it would be used as a “southern White House” for the president to use as a getaway or place to host diplomats. After several years of limited use and high maintenance bills, the government returned the property to the Post family.

It sat unused for years until Donald Trump bought it in 1985 for around $10 million. Trump renovated and updated the resort, adding a massive ballroom to the 62,500 square foot estate, which has 126 rooms, 58 bedrooms and 33 bathrooms, a spa and gym, and three bomb shelters. It sits on 20 acres, has a waterfront pool and five clay tennis courts, as well as a golf course. Its estimated value in 2018 was $160 million, and the worth has appreciated significantly since Donald Trump was elected president.

Not just anyone can stay at Mar-a-Lago; you have to be a member. There’s an initial $200,000 fee, plus about $20,000 in annual dues and taxes. The resort closes for hurricane season each year, as Florida’s summers are both hot and humid, as well as at heightened risk for tropical storms and hurricanes.
Donald Trump visits Mar-a-Lago frequently as president, and has hosted leaders from China and Japan at the residence. However, it is difficult and expensive to maintain adequate security to guarantee protection to foreign dignitaries as well as the president.

When Donald Trump turned the estate into a resort from a residence, he was required to commit to staying for no more than three non-consecutive weeks per year. However, Trump has indicated he will take up permanent residence there when he completes his time as president, whether that is in 2021 or 2025.

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Place information

Name:
Mar Lago Village

Latitude:
26°07'15"N

Longitude:
80°19'30"W

Hamlet:
Melaleuca Isles

County:
Broward County

State:
Florida

Country:
USA

🌎 Satellite Mar Lago Village map (USA / Florida): share any place, ruler for distance measuring, find your location, address search. Live map. All streets and buildings location on the live satellite map of Mar Lago Village. Squares, landmarks, POI and more on the interactive map of Mar Lago Village: restaurants, hotels, bars, coffee, banks, gas stations, parking lots, cinemas, groceries, post offices, markets, shops, cafes, hospitals, pharmacies, taxi, bus stations etc. Postal code search. Where is Mar Lago Village (USA, Florida) located on the map. North America online. Mar Lago Village map

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Long before FBI agents found highly classified documents close to public areas of Mar-a-Lago, the Florida resort that Donald Trump calls home, a number of other eyebrow-raising incidents have heightened concerns over the property’s security.

They range from a Chinese national carrying multiple mobile phones and computer malware making it through a Secret Service checkpoint, to a fake heiress breezing in for photographs with the former president, to diners looking over Trump’s shoulder at a laptop displaying top secret information about North Korean missile launches.

Trump branded his waterfront mansion – built in the 1920s for the cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post – his “winter White House” for the duration of his single term in office.

Given Mar-a-Lago’s status as a private club, however, with open access for (predominantly unvetted) members and paying guests to almost every corner of the main buildings and nearby beach club, there’s one way in which it could never match the actual White House: security.

1 Boxes of classified documents beneath the Great Hall

April 2022: FBI agents found boxes of secret and classified documents in a basement “storage area” beneath the Great Hall, the public hub of the Mar-a-Lago resort.

2 Summit with Chinese president in front of guests

April 2017: Trump held an “international summit” with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, in the living area of the Great Hall in full view of resort members and paying guests.

3 Chinese national detained with malware in lobby

April 2019: Chinese national Yujing Zhang is detained in the lobby after passing through Secret Service security in possession of four cellphones and flash drives containing malware (malicious software designed to infiltrate computers for nefarious purposes). She was receiving a golf cart ride to the club.

4 North Korean missile crisis discussed in dining room

February 2017: Trump discussed the North Korean missile crisis in the company of the then Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, in the resort’s open-air dining room, perusing classified materials on a laptop watched by diners and waiters.

5 ‘Fake heiress’ scam artist poses for photos by pool

May 2021: Ukrainian fake heiress and alleged charity scammer Inna Yashchyshyn gains access to Mar-a-Lago, posing for pictures by the swimming pool and, later, with Trump and South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham at nearby Trump International golf club.

6 Boxes of documents found in Trump’s bedroom

August 2022: FBI agents search Trump’s bedroom inside his private quarters at Mar-a-Lago, one of three areas targeted according to the affidavit supporting the search warrant application. It is not known what was found there.

7 Makeshift ‘situation room’ in non-secure office

April 2017: Trump sets up an impromptu “situation room” in an office in order to monitor US missile strikes on Syria. Analysts noted the insecure set-up and presence of officials with no connection to national security.

8 Top secret folders found above Grand Ballroom

August 2022: FBI agents discover dozens of highly classified and top secret folders in an office in a converted bridal suite above the Grand Ballroom. Some of the papers are found stuffed in a desk drawer.

9 Trespasser successfully enters through beach club tunnel

November 2018: Student Mark Lindblom is arrested for trespassing after entering the resort through a tunnel linking Mar-a-Lago to its beach club, passing through security and mingling with guests. Lindblom tells a judge: “I wanted to see how far I could get.”