» Palm Beach highlights of President Trump’s first year,
Situation room alfresco: As Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dined on the terrace at Mar-a-Lago after a day of golfing Feb. 11, club patrons snapped pictures of the two leaders and their aides huddling to discuss the response to a missile test by North Korea. Amid concerns about sensitive international information being shared with clubgoers, the White House said classified information was not discussed, only a joint statement by Trump and Abe released later that night.
The 2020 campaign begins: While spending the Presidents Day weekend at Mar-a-Lago, Trump took a side trip up the coast to Melbourne on Feb. 18 to headline the first rally of his 2020 reelection campaign. At the rally, Boynton Beach resident Gene Huber drew national attention when Trump invited him onstage after recognizing him from a TV interview earlier in the day in which he praised the president. Missiles of Mar-a-Lago: Within an hour of arriving at Palm Beach International Airport for a summit meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump was in an impromptu situation room at Mar-a-Lago meeting with advisers to order missile strikes on Syria in response to a chemical weapons attack by the Bashar al-Assad regime. The missiles began hitting their targets and Trump and Xi were wrapping up dinner that evening. Rocking the Florida governor’s race: While taxiing on the runway at PBIA on Dec. 22, Trump tweeted his admiration for not-yet-declared U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Palm Coast, in the 2018 Florida governor’s race, calling him a“brilliant young leader ... who would make a GREAT Governor of Florida.” DeSantis officially launched his candidacy this month.
Lake Okeechobee pledge: Trump in October pledged to speed up repairs to the dike around Lake Okeechobee, a top
priority for his friend and ally Florida Gov. Rick Scott and a major issue for the Glades region. The Trump Administration has not yet announced a specific timetable or dollar figure for accelerating the repairs. Scott and Trump met Dec. 31 at Trump International Golf Club to discuss the dike, offshore drilling and other Florida issues.
The 561 Cabinet: Palm Beach County has been well represented in Trump’s Cabinet. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is a
Palm Beach resident whose home is about a mile north of Mar-a-Lago. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson lives in Palm Beach Gardens. And Palm Beach resident Robert Lighthizer holds the Cabinet-level post of U.S. trade representative. Another former close adviser, onetime Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, is under house arrest at his Palm Beach Gardens home as he awaits trial on money-laundering charges.
Post-Charlottesville exodus: More than 20 charities canceled planned fundraisers at Mar-a-Lago after Trump said“there’s blame on both sides” for the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., and that there were“very fine people” among those protesting the removal of a Confederate statue. The club says it has booked other events in their place.“All I can tell you is we are really doing fine. It will be a good season,” said Mar-a-Lago general manager Bernd Lembcke in October.
Protests and praise: An estimated 3,000 people turned out for an anti-Trump march from West Palm Beach to Palm Beach during the president’s first February visit, and several hundred marched against Trump in April. Trump supporters regularly gather along Southern Boulevard to cheer the president’s motorcades, outnumbering opponents on most of his recent visits. On at least three occasions Trump has invited some of the roadside supporters to join him at Mar-a-Lago.