Posted on 09/14/2026 4:15:45 PM PDT by SmokingJoe
Summarise the video
This video explores the history of Mar-a-Lago, a massive 110,000-square-foot estate in Palm Beach, Florida, built by Marjorie Merryweather Post in 1927 (0:47-1:54).
Despite being a national historic landmark, the estate became a "white elephant"—a property so expensive to maintain that it became a burden rather than an asset (3:02-4:07).
Key phases in the estate's history include:
Post's failed gifting: Marjorie Merryweather Post attempted to leave the estate to the State of Florida, the Smithsonian Institution, and the U.S. federal government to serve as a winter White House. Each institution ultimately declined or returned the property due to the prohibitive annual maintenance costs, which reached approximately $1 million in 1970s money (4:10-8:05).
Purchase and survival: After several collapsed sales on the open market, Donald Trump purchased the estate in 1985 for a fraction of its original construction cost (8:58-10:04). He later saved the building from financial ruin by converting it into a private members club in 1995, funding its ongoing upkeep through membership fees (11:13-12:56).
Presidential use: In 2017, Mar-a-Lago finally fulfilled Post's original vision when it was used as a winter White House for presidential work and hosting international heads of state (14:07-14:26).
The video highlights the ironic reality that the building only survived by ceasing to be a private home and becoming a commercial enterprise, ultimately achieving the specific purpose its creator had intended through an arrangement she never could have imagined (16:44-18:45).
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
Trump learned how to monetize the place.
And now...cleaning up the Capitol and replacing tents and porta potties with a structure worthy of the United States.
I’ve done that twice for a good profit. If I was Trump I’da bought one of those robber baron’s mansions in R.I. Those summers are gorgeous. Blue state however.
In the beginning of the movie Melania, you are treated to a high flying view starting from the sea then moving over Mar-a-Lago. At first I thought it was some fancy seaside hotel but it became clear it was just flying towards Melania’s home.
He knows value in real estate when he sees it. He was weaned on that sense.
Yet that fat NY AG Leticia James says it’s only worth a few pennies.
Those are owned by the state now. I went through 3 of them.
Bummer. It must cost the taxpayers a lot to keep them maintained.
Hearst Castle. I often thought some billionaire celebrity would build a modern day one a few miles up or down the road. Gotta be a reason why Randolph Hearst chose that location. He was 56 when construction began. Died 30 years later and it was never finished. Great tourist hit.
Marjorie Merryweather Post was one of the original donors to what would become The Kennedy Center.........
She appears to have been a great woman.
Yes a great philanthropist as well as an astute business woman..............
Yes a great philanthropist as well as an astute business woman..............
BFL
But the left is happy to have state dinners held in a tent, even in the rain and even if people have to walk through mud to get to their table.
Years ago our government held white tie and black tie state dinners in the White House. I don’t know of any other country that holds those events in a tent. We need a real room for them.
It was designated a National Historic Site, but the federal government found it too expensive to keep up, so they gave it back to the Post Foundation. One of the few times the federales gave anything back?
“Trump learned how to monetize the place.”
Trump Inc. earns $25 million a month at Mar-a-Lago, because Trump Inc. are genius businessmen.
Marjorie’s daughter actress Dina Merrill grew up there and once lived there with husband Cliff Robertson before the sale to PDJT.
Don’t forget having to use a Porta Potty at a State dinner...
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