State Department website touts glittering history of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate
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A State Department website that promotes travel to the United States included an article this month about the history and lavish furnishings of President Trump’s privately-owned Florida resort club Mar-a-Lago, opening questions about whether the federal government is improperly promoting Trump’s moneymaking enterprises.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) pointed to the travelogue-style blog piece Monday, asking in a Twitter message why the State Department would spend “taxpayer $$ promoting the president’s private country club.”
The State Department had no immediate comment on whether the item was appropriate or had been vetted for legal or ethical concerns. State Department spokesman Mark Toner was asked about the item during a press briefing Monday, but he said he had not heard about it. The department has promised a response.
The short item was posted on a promotional website called “Share America” on April 4, ahead of Trump’s meeting at Mar-a-Lago with Chinese President Xi Jinping. A version of the item was recently reposted on the website maintained by the U.S. Embassy in London, where it caught the attention of watchdog groups.
The item adopts Trump’s term “winter White House” for the members-only club. It does not expressly encourage foreigners to visit Mar-a-Lago, although other articles on the same website actively promote U.S. tourism. The item does note that the estate “is located at the heart of Florida’s Palm Beach community.”
“By visiting this ‘winter White House,’ Trump is belatedly fulfilling the dream of Mar-a-Lago’s original owner and designer,” the item reads. “The ornate Jazz Age house was designed with Old-World Spanish, Venetian and Portuguese influences” and filled with original owner Marjorie Merriweather Post’s collection of antiques, the article notes.
The item includes photographs of the house and sumptuous interiors, and copies of Trump tweets mentioning Mar-a-Lago
The article gives a brief summary of the 1927 mansion’s history, including Post’s desire that it be used by U.S. presidents as a retreat and the subsequent decision by the U.S. government that the property was too expensive to maintain. Trump bought it in 1985.
“After refurbishing the house and adding an events space, Trump opened the estate to dues-paying members of the public in 1995 as the Mar-a-Lago Club,” the State Department item reads.
“Post’s dream of a winter White House came true with Trump’s election in 2016. Trump regularly works out of the house he maintains at Mar-a-Lago and uses the club to host foreign dignitaries.”
The State Department describes the “Share America” site as its “platform for sharing compelling stories and images that spark discussion and debate on important topics like democracy, freedom of expression, innovation, entrepreneurship, education, and the role of civil society.”
The site is produced by the department’s Bureau of International Information Programs, which produces material distributed by U.S. embassies.
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