The Sun King
Writer and Palm Beach resident Laurence
Leamer has written a very breezy and gossipy history of Donald Trump’s
involvement with Mar-a-Lago and through that he confirms pretty much all we
know about Donald Trump. He starts with Trump’s enchantment with the Mar-a Lago
estate that was formerly owned by the heiress, Marjorie Merriweather Post.
Trump buys the asset for about $10 million dollars with only $300,000 of his
own money. Not bad for an asset that has been much improved could now be worth
$500 million.
Trump’s entrance on to the Palm Beach
scene shakes that the then very stuffy community to its very foundations. He
doesn’t play by the rules, sues the town many times over zoning issues and he
ultimately gets his way. Where Trump does some real good he breaks the
anti-Semitism of that insular community with the aid of his Jewish lawyer Paul
Rampell. By the way it was Rampell’s idea to convert the estate to a club.
Leamer has obviously walked the halls of
Mar-a-Lago where he has keen sense for detail and Trump’s obsession with gold.
He has talked with many members and employees who tell tales of Trump’s
mercurial temper, especially with his employees. To call him mean and rotten
would be an understatement. But make no mistake, Trump is the Sun King of
Mar-a-Lago.
Trump’s affair and later marriage to
Marla Maples is a highlight of this book. Here Leamer notes that Trump did
whatever he could to prevent being known that Maples had sex with one his body
guards on the beach. After Maples there is, of course, Melania and their 2005
wedding was the highlight of the social season and Trump paid for it by selling
the photography rights.
We also encounter the National Enquirer
and Trump’s buddy Christopher Ruddy of the rightwing website Newsmax. Leamer’s thesis is that the Donald Trump we
see today was honed in the hothouse of Palm Springs. Leamer’s book isn’t great
history, but it is a fun read.
For the full Amazon URL see: https://www.amazon.com/review/R3O7R1E3QLZYZ8/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv
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