- Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s private club in Palm Beach, Florida, is often called “the Winter White House.”
- It was closed on Monday after at least three recent visitors tested positive for COVID-19, according to CNN. The resort is being deep cleaned and is expected to re-open for dinner service on Tuesday night.
- Trump spent time there during this year’s Super Bowl weekend and previously held a New Year’s Eve party there.
- The heiress to Post Cereal built the 20-acre estate in 1927, and Trump bought it for $8 million in 1985.
- Its 128 rooms are decked out with lavish interiors and golden decor, Trump’s signature.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
President Donald Trump’s exclusive Mar-a-Lago club is undergoing a deep clean after at least three recent visitors tested positive for COVID-19, according to CNN.
Resort members were informed of the closure in an email and the resort is expected to re-open for dinner service starting Tuesday night.
The first Mar-a-Lago visitor to test positive for the coronavirus was Fabio Wajngarten, press secretary to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. The second was someone present at a fundraising lunch “hosted by Trump Victory, a committee that raises money for the Trump campaign and the Republican Party,” according to The Washington Post. The third infected person was Brazil’s Chargé d’Affaires Ambassador Nestor Forster, which the Brazilian embassy in the US announced Friday.
The seaside resort is often referred to as “the winter White House” and constantly hosts a number of high-powered visitors.
Trump hosted a lavish New Year's Eve party there to ring in 2018, and spent Super Bowl weekend there this year. Mar-a-Lago, which was built in the early 20th century, serves as the first family's weekend getaway. It's also a lavish backdrop to host important dignitaries with its ornately decorated rooms and halls - and it was built to impress.
Here's a look inside the sprawling complex, and what it takes to become a member there.
The Mar-a-Lago Club is a 20-acre estate with 128 rooms. The heiress to Post Cereal built it in 1927.
Source: Town and Country Magazine
It spans the entire width of the island Palm Beach is located on, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Inter coastal Waterway.
Source: Google Maps
Trump bought the estate and all of its antique furniture in 1985 for a total of $8 million.
Source: Town and Country Magazine
Today, it serves as the Trump family's playground, but is also open to people who purchase a membership at the club.
Source: Palm Beach Daily News
Back in the 1990s, memberships cost $50,000, but they soared to $200,000 for the final spots after Trump's election.
Source: Palm Beach Daily News
Members also have to pay a $14,000 annual fee, with a $2,000 dining minimum.
Source: Palm Beach Daily News
Members can access the club's pools, beaches, dining halls, and private rooms. They can also rent out the resort for events like weddings, bar mitzvahs, and charity galas.
Source: Mar-a-Lago
Trump has also used it to host numerous campaign events and publicity events, like the one pictured below, which was held in Mar-a-Lago's giant ballroom.
Source: Time
For most people though, access to the club stops at its gated entrance.
Source: Mar-a-Lago
Those who do make it inside are treated to a detailed portico that leads into the main building, which features neo-Gothic and Andalusian accents.
Source: Mar-a-Lago
Once inside, ornate decor reminiscent of European palaces accompanies pricey antique furniture. The club's main living room features high ceilings and gold-plated designs over every wall.
Source: Mar-a-Lago
Here, the president and first lady Melania Trump used the cavernous library to make calls to children on Christmas Eve 2017.
Source: The White House
Not all of the rooms are so lavish. This interior room is where Trump gathered with his advisers to order 2017's missile strikes in Syria in response to what the US said were President Bashar al-Assad's chemical attacks on his own people.
Source: Business Insider
Trump has also hosted world leaders at the resort, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan.
Source: Business Insider
In February 2017, Trump got into a bit of hot water when he discussed national security details with Abe in full view of the public at the resort.
Source: Business Insider
Trump used Mar-a-Lago's luxurious interior to full effect when Xi visited the complex. As usual at Mar-a-Lago, bouquets were everywhere.
Source: Business Insider
Trump also welcomed the Chinese president's delegation in a royal neo-Baroque hall at Mar-a-Lago in 2018.
Source: Sun-Sentinel
Not a detail was amiss for the visit, including the elaborate plate setting.
Source: Palm Beach Daily News
The food at events like these is prepared by a team of expert chefs.
http://instagr.am/p/2XGJZdnFeo
Source: Palm Beach Daily News
But not all of it is up to fine dining standards — in January 2018, a customer was disappointed when she was served caviar with plastic spoons, with allegedly "low-budget" crackers to accompany it.
http://instagr.am/p/BeN15oangH-
Source: Business Insider
Trump's mark is evident throughout his palatial second home.
Source: Town and Country Magazine
Because of its flat terrain and open air access, Trump can fly in on his own helicopter if he's not on Air Force One.
Source: Palm Beach Daily News
If the club's multiple beaches just aren't doing it for guests, they can relax by the various pools on the property, just like Trump and his security team apparently do.
Source: Mar-a-Lago
Mar-a-Lago has become synonymous with Trump's lavish lifestyle.
Source: Town and Country Magazine
The parties he holds there, like those on New Year's Eve and Super Bowl Sunday, last late into the night.
Source: Business Insider
In addition to being a social setting for the elite, the resort itself has become a backdrop for a number of recent national news stories.
Source: Business Insider
In September 2019, Mar-a-Lago made headlines as one Jeffrey Epstein victim said she had been recruited directly from the resort in 1999 when she was 15.
Source: Business Insider, The New York Times
In September 2019, a Chinese businesswoman was convicted of trespassing on Mar-a-Lago with multiple cell phones and electronic devices. She was suggested to be a spy for the Chinese government and is set to be deported after her eight-month sentence.
Source: Business Insider, Business Insider
In February 2020, a 30-year-old opera singer from Connecticut was arrested after leading police on a high-speed chase through Palm Beach, which included the woman barreling through two security checkpoints at Mar-a-Lago in a black SUV that was shot at by police.
Source: Business Insider
Most recently, Mar-a-Lago hosted events with attendees who later tested positive for COVID-19, including a Brazilian press secretary who came into contact with Trump. Trump has tested negative for coronavirus and the club has been shut down for a deep cleaning. It is expected to re-open Tuesday night.
Source: CNN, Business Insider