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Politics Insider

4 Jul, 11 tweets, 6 min read

In 1991, Donald Trump filed paperwork to slice up Mar-a-Lago's grounds and build eight mansions.

This is the story of how preservationists and officials stopped him.

businessinsider.com/mar-a-lago-don…

Six years after Donald Trump bought the Palm Beach, Florida, mansion known as Mar-a-Lago, he filed paperwork to slice up its grounds, build eight huge houses, and sell them.

businessinsider.com/mar-a-lago-don…

After months of scuffles with officials and preservationists, his plans to sell the land — which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places — were denied.

businessinsider.com/mar-a-lago-don…

After the cereal heiress and former owner Marjorie Merriweather Post's death in 1973, Mar-a-Lago was gifted to the US government.

Nine years later, officials handed it back to her charity.

businessinsider.com/mar-a-lago-don…

The following year, the town agreed to subdivide the property for a prospective buyer.

But that deal fell through.

businessinsider.com/mar-a-lago-don…

In the days before a May 1991 meeting to discuss Trump's plans, a short memo written by preservationist lawyer Tersh Boasberg began circulating in Washington.

bit.ly/3xjdifp

By all accounts, Trump skipped most of the public meetings held in Palm Beach.

His lawyers and designers were always present, and he was often mentioned by name.

businessinsider.com/mar-a-lago-don…

Trump tried to influence the town's decision by speaking to the press.

He said he was considering selling the property to the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the leader of the Unification Church. Moon's followers are called "Moonies," a term the church dislikes.

bit.ly/3xjdifp

A church official later clarified that it had never been interested in the property.

The church's New York office sent out a press release calling Trump's comments a "blatant recent example of outright racism and bigotry."

businessinsider.com/mar-a-lago-don…

Over the next few meetings the people opposed to Trump's plans said the grounds were just as important as the mansion.

Trump was asked to show a plan how money raised from the sale of the subdivided property would maintain the central mansion.

bit.ly/3xjdifp

A team of consultants hired by the town had also concluded the plans would destroy the estate.

On August 16, 1991, the commission unanimously voted to deny the plan.

businessinsider.com/mar-a-lago-don…

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