An elected official in Palm Beach, Florida, has issued a warning to former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort after complaints of traffic mismanagement at the club.
During a town council meeting on Tuesday, officials discussed the possibility of limiting events at Mar-a-Lago if they continue to see guests' cars stacking up and blocking traffic on the roads leading to the resort.
Town Council President Margaret Zeidman gave a public warning to Mar-a-Lago: "Either get your act together, or we will get it together for you." She added: "We're not gonna continue to have the residents put at a disadvantage like this."
Newsweek reached out to Zeidman via email and Mar-a-Lago via online form for comment Friday.
Zeidman said during the meeting, "If in the end we have to restrict, if we can, their events, then we will do so." This can become a headache for Trump, who is the GOP front-runner in the 2024 presidential election.
Mar-a-Lago has recently hosted two major fundraising events, including one October 26 that raked in about $6 million and elicited traffic complaints. Zeidman said that the traffic from Trump's fundraiser delayed the start of the Safeguard Palm Beach South End Safety Forum held on the same day.
"Everybody was late, and they had to start it a half hour later, because of an event in Mar-a-Lago," Zeidman said.
Zeidman also complained about ride-share vehicles and private shuttle buses for a 250-person event held Monday at Mar-a-Lago that caused traffic snarls.
She suggested that event organizers and security at the club are not communicating properly on traffic management. "One hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing," Zeidman said.
No motions were passed on the issue during Tuesday's meeting but the council plans to revisit it in December.
Trump is at risk of losing Mar-a-Lago altogether from the civil fraud lawsuit in New York. He was sued by New York Attorney General Letitia James, accused of fraudulently inflating the value of his properties and assets to secure favorable bank loans and tax breaks.
New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, who's overseeing the trial, has already ruled that Trump committed fraud, and he is still considering how much Trump will pay in damages. The ex-president could be banned from doing business in New York state, have properties removed from his control or be forced to pay a fine totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
fairness meter
To Rate This Article
About the writer
Rachel Dobkin is a Newsweek reporter based in New York. Her focus is reporting on politics. Rachel joined Newsweek in ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
