Trump’s New Insane Mar-a-Lago Fee Fuels His Election Grift
As Kamala Harris continues to out-fundraise Donald Trump by double margins and Trump continues to pay millions in legal fees, the former president has to find some way to line his pockets. Trump, therefore, is hiking the membership fee of his Mar-a-Lago club to $1 million per person, from a previous rate of $700,000. The application for membership will open October 1, conveniently ahead of the 2024 election. “Of course, the people who are most interested in this are going to look at it as a really sound investment. Why not pay a million dollars and talk to the president?” Robert Weissman of the nonprofit Public Citizen told The Guardian.The price gouging was announced last month by Mar-a-Lago’s longtime manager Bernd Lembcke in an interview with Bloomberg. Only four spots are available, “so we are not desperate,” said Lembcke. The list of 500 Mar-a-Lago members is not public, but at least eight past or present members of Trump’s clubs were appointed to the Trump administration, USA Today reported in 2019, with some going on to become ambassadors to Romania, South Africa, Dominican Republic, and Hungary, despite some having no relevant experience. In the interview with Bloomberg, Trump bragged that when he began at Mar-a-Lago, memberships were priced at only $25,000. If that were true, the rate would have increased 3,900 percent since 1985. Talk about inflation!
As Kamala Harris continues to out-fundraise Donald Trump by double margins and Trump continues to pay millions in legal fees, the former president has to find some way to line his pockets.
Trump, therefore, is hiking the membership fee of his Mar-a-Lago club to $1 million per person, from a previous rate of $700,000. The application for membership will open October 1, conveniently ahead of the 2024 election.
“Of course, the people who are most interested in this are going to look at it as a really sound investment. Why not pay a million dollars and talk to the president?” Robert Weissman of the nonprofit Public Citizen told The Guardian.
The price gouging was announced last month by Mar-a-Lago’s longtime manager Bernd Lembcke in an interview with Bloomberg. Only four spots are available, “so we are not desperate,” said Lembcke.
The list of 500 Mar-a-Lago members is not public, but at least eight past or present members of Trump’s clubs were appointed to the Trump administration, USA Today reported in 2019, with some going on to become ambassadors to Romania, South Africa, Dominican Republic, and Hungary, despite some having no relevant experience.
In the interview with Bloomberg, Trump bragged that when he began at Mar-a-Lago, memberships were priced at only $25,000. If that were true, the rate would have increased 3,900 percent since 1985. Talk about inflation!
