Donald Trump outside the entrance of Mar-a-Lago on December 21, 2016.
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump is set to address criminal charges he now faces.
Trump will make a speech at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida, his gilded getaway.
Here's a look inside the exclusive resort that the public doesn't get to see.
Former President Donald Trump is set to break his silence at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, after he was slapped with nearly three dozen felony charges in a Manhattan court.
In March, a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Trump after a years-long probe into a 2016 "hush-money" payment to adult actress Stormy Daniels.
He is due to give a speech to supporters addressing the charges at Mar-a-Lago after his arraignment on Tuesday evening.
Mar-a-Lago is a home base of sorts for the former president: he announced he was running for president again at the estate last year.
Trump had teased a third run for the executive office for several months before the announcement. Several of Trump's advisors had reportedly advised him against announcing his intent to run so early.
In August 2022, the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago searching for classified records that Trump did not return to the National Archives and Records Administration after his presidential term ended.
"These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home... is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents," the statement read.
Trump remained at his resort for the following months.
During Trump's presidency, the exclusive resort was often referred to as "the winter White House."
Now, it's just his house.
Following the end of his presidential term, Trump decamped to the ornate resort. Reports in 2020 of construction work at the family's on-property living quarters and Melania Trump touring a local school (presumably for son Barron) stoked rumors of the move long before it was official. Neighbors even publicly spoke about wanting Trump to stay away, though it clearly didn't deter him.
Mar-a-Lago has hosted a number of high-powered visitors over the years, as it has seemingly always served as the Trump family's gilded weekend getaway. Mar-a-Lago has served as a lavish backdrop to host important dignitaries with its elaborately decorated halls. It was built to impress.
The Mar-a-Lago Club is a 20-acre estate with 128 rooms. The heiress to Post Cereal built it in 1927.
The name of the resort means "sea to lake" in Spanish.
It spans the entire width of the island Palm Beach is located on, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Intracoastal Waterway.
President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort fronts the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Intracoastal Waterway to the west.
Trump bought the estate and all of its antique furniture in 1985 for a total of $8 million.
Donald Trump Jr. and Vanessa Trump during their Mar-A-Lago wedding on November 12, 2005.
Today, it serves as the Trump family's opulent playground, but is also open to people who purchase a membership at the club.
Trump at the Mar-a-Largo Club, where there's a polo ground.
Back in the 1990s, memberships cost $50,000, but they soared to $200,000 after Trump's election.
Guests attend a Mar-a-Lago party with more than 800 guests on January 18, 2018, which was a celebration of President Trump holding the nation's top office for one year.
Members also have to pay a $14,000 annual fee, with a $2,000 dining minimum.
Guests gather for a New Year's Eve gala hosted by President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017.
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.
Guests gather for an opulent event at 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.
The Trumps gather for a 2016 campaign event.
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.
Trump stands next to the ornate entryway into Mar-a-Lago's quarters for living and socializing.
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.
Trump speaks with members of the armed forces on Thanksgiving 2017.
Here, the president and first lady Melania Trump used the cavernous library to make calls to children on Christmas Eve in 2017.
Donald and Melania Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Christmas Eve in 2017.
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.
President Donald Trump gathers with his team to order Syria missile strikes on Apr. 7, 2017.
Trump has also hosted world leaders at the resort, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump greet Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and wife Akie Abe as they arrive for dinner at Mar-a-Lago in 2018.
In February 2017, Trump got into a bit of hot water when he discussed national security details with Abe in full view of the resort's other guests.
A photo of the night Abe visited Mar-a-Lago that Richard DeAgazio posted to his Facebook page.
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. Reports later found that such flowers cost the US government $6,000 — with the entire visit totaling more than $35,000.
Trump (center left) with Xi Jinping (center right), their wives, and aides.
In 2018, Trump also welcomed the Chinese president's delegation in a royal neo-Baroque hall at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump welcomes Chinese dignitaries at one of Mar-a-Lago's dining rooms.
Not a detail was amiss for the visit, including the elaborate place settings
A place setting at Mar-a-Lago for a dinner with Trump and Xi Jinping of China.
The food at events like these is prepared by a team of expert chefs.
The meal served at President Donald Trump's party celebrating one year in office. Held on January 18, 2018, it was a lavish celebration with more than 800 guests.
But not all of it is up to fine dining standard: In January 2018, a customer was disappointed when she was served caviar with plastic spoons, with allegedly "low-budget" crackers to accompany it.
These guests, however, seemed to enjoy their meal on January 18, 2018.
Trump's taste is evident throughout his palatial second home.
President Donald Trump and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe host a joint press conference at Mar-a-Lago estate on April 18, 2018.
If the club's multiple beaches aren't enough for guests, they can relax by the various pools on the property. It seems Trump and his security team have taken advantage of brief windows of downtime to do so.
Trump with his staff poolside at Mar-a-Lago.
Mar-a-Lago has become synonymous with Trump's lavish lifestyle.
A view of the ornate hall where President Donald Trump hosted his one-year anniversary gala in January 2018.
The parties he holds there, like those on New Year's Eve and Super Bowl Sunday, last late into the night.
Trump arrives for a New Year's Eve gala at Mar-a-Lago with the first lady and their son Barron.
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.
An aerial view of Mar-a-Lago, looking out to the Atlantic Ocean.
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.
Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump.
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 was ordered to be deported after her eight-month sentence.
A sketch shows Yujing Zhang (left), the Chinese woman charged with lying to illegally enter Mar-a-Lago club during a courtroom hearing in West Palm Beach.
In February 2020, a 30-year-old opera singer from Connecticut named Hannah Roemhild was arrested after leading police on a high-speed chase through Palm Beach. Roemhild barreled through two security checkpoints at Mar-a-Lago in a black SUV that was shot at by police.
After the incident at Mar-a-Lago (above), Hannah Roemhild picked up her mother from the airport in her bullet-riddled SUV and checked into a motel before she was arrested.
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. On March 15, the club was shut down for a deep cleaning. It did not reopen until May.
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting at the White House in March, as the coronavirus pandemic was starting to spread in the US.
Following the Trumps' exit from the White House in January, the family seemingly moved back to Mar-a-Lago to live full time.
Donald and Melania Trump speak to press at Mar-a-Lago.
AP Photo/ Evan Vucci
Recent reports have surfaced about construction work being performed on the family's living quarters during Trump's final months in office. Sources close to the president told People in December that his 2,000-square-foot private residence at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach "will be expanded and spruced up."
Melania Trump also just toured the $35,000-a-year Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, ostensibly for their 14-year-old son Barron. It's a 40-minute drive south from Mar-a-Lago, but also has a campus in Boca Raton, which is 10 minutes closer to West Palm Beach.
Neighbors, however, aren't thrilled at the prospect and are even trying to keep him from taking up residence at Mar-a-Lago. The DeMoss family sent a letter pleading their case via an attorney. They claim that Trump cannot live at Mar-a-Lago because he signed an agreement to that effect around 30 years ago, around the time he transformed the estate into the members-only club it is today, according to the Washington Post, which obtained a copy of the letter. The signatories asked the town to step in and enforce the agreement.
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