Trump cited $17M in insurance after Wilma
But records fail to show any major work at Mar-a-Lago.
PA L M B E AC H — D o n a l d Trump says he received a $17 million insurance payment in 2005 for hurricane damage to Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach. But The Associated Press has found little evidence of such large-scale damage.
Two years after a series of storms, the real estate tycoon said he didn’t know how much had been spent on repairs, but acknowledged he pocketed some of the money. He transferred funds into his personal accounts, saying that under the terms of his policy “you didn’t have to reinvest it.”
“L andsc aping, roofing, walls, painting, leaks, artwork in the — you know, the great tapestries, tiles, Spanish tiles, the beach, the erosion,” he said of the storm damage. “It’s still not what it was.”
Trump’s desc r iption of extensive damage does not match the versions of Mara-Lago members and even Trump loyalists. In an interview about Mar-a-Lago’s history, Trump’s longtime former butler, Anthony Senecal, recalled no catastrophic damage. He said Hurricane Wilma, the last of a string of storms which barreled through in 2004 and 2005, flattened trees behind the estate, but the house itself only lost some roof tiles.
“That house has never been seriously damaged,” said Senecal, discussing Mar-a-Lago’s luck with hurricanes. “I was there for all of them.”
Just over two weeks after Wilma, Trump hosted 370 guests at Mar-a-Lago for the wedding of his son, Donald Jr. Wedding photographs by Gett y Images showed the house, pools, cabanas and landsc aping seemingly in good repair.
Valuations for Mar-a-Lago are subjective, but Forbes estimated the 110,000-squarefoot property’s value at $150 million in its most recent a pprai s a l of Tr ump’s net wor t h . T i m F r a n k , P a l m Beach’s planning administrator at the time of the hurricanes, said $17 million in work would have required “dozens, maybe scores of workers.”
P a l m B e a c h b u i l d i n g department records showed no pe r mit s f o r c o ns t r u c - tion on that scale after the storms. The only permits that appeared hurricane-related were $3,000 in repairs to storm-damaged outdoor lighting and the vacuuming of sand from the property’s beachfront pool. Likewise, records of the cit y’s Landmarks and Preservation Commission reflected no repair work conducted following the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons.
The $17 million Mar-a-Lago insurance payment surfaced during a 2007 deposition in Trump’s unsuccessful libel lawsuit against journalist Tim O’Brien, who Trump accused of underestimating his wealth. As part of the case, O’Brien’s attorneys were permitted to review Trump’s financial records, including some from the Mar-a-Lago Club. They asked Trump to quantify the damage and explain why he had pocketed money instead of spending it on repairs.
Trump said he could not remember which hurricane had damaged Mar-a-Lago or when it hit. “We continue to spend the money because we continue to suffer the ravages of that hurricane,” Trump said.
The insurance adjuster who assessed the insurance claim, Hank Stein of VeriClaim Inc., said there had been damage to Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach and damage to Mar-a-Lago’s roof and landscaping. Stein called his review “a thorough investigation” but could not remember details. Trump declined to provide the AP with records about the insurance claim or answer specific questions about damage at Mar-a-Lago.