How Mar-a-Lago's denizens nurtured his ego
By Robin Givhan
Fashion critic
February 7
Palm Beach is a horrible place ... where wealthy husbands fight petty battles in court and middle-aged wives fight wrinkles and weight gain as if their marriages depend on it, because they so often do. It’s a wretched village filled with grotesque anti-Semitism and casual racism, but with striking ocean views ...
At the epicenter of it all sits Mar-a-Lago, a black hole of pomposity and insecurity. To understand how Trump fits into his adopted winter home is to understand how he operates in the world at large ...
In the early pages, one almost feels sorry for Trump. When the ostentatious businessman arrived in Palm Beach — before he tangled with the Town Council and the Preservation Foundation, before he transformed Mar-a-Lago from a private estate into a private club, and before he upended long-standing traditions — he hosted a dinner party for the denizens of its entrenched old society. As waiters were serving coffee, Trump suggested going around the table so each person could say a little about who they were and what they did. The guests responded as if he’d just asked them to hand over their financial records ...
There is, by now, an entire subcategory of political nonfiction devoted to Trump. “Mar-a-Lago” doesn’t enlighten readers on Trump as a businessman or a politician. Instead, it shines a light on the craven culture he exploited, where the media, the business community and the local government all went giddy and stupid at the thought of fame. On New Year’s Eve in 1999, TV networks sent cameras to Mar-a-Lago to get Trump’s comments on the new century — not because he was especially eloquent or thoughtful, but because he was famous. Small-business owners extended credit to Trump despite his well-known reputation for not paying his bills — after all, he looked wealthy. The Palm Beach Town Council and other village regulators caved to Trump’s demands to build a grand ballroom at Mar-a-Lago, to install an enormous flagpole and to claim a sketchy tax deduction because he threatened lawsuits, temper tantrums and public insults. Oh, and because he was famous ...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/how-mar-a-lagos-denizens-nurtured-donald-trumps-ego/2019/02/06/910a5f22-2898-11e9-b2fc-721718903bfc_story.html?utm_term=.9b01511590f5
= new reply since forum marked as read
