During his presidency, Donald Trump invited several heads of state to his Florida mansion. The security issues already aroused wonder at that time.
Donald Trump The lavish Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida has been in the headlines since the FBI raided the home on August 9.
The home search was related to documents Trump reportedly took from the White House to his mansion after his presidency.
Mar-a-Lago is the winter home of the former president, who is not in the news for the first time due to security concerns.
Among other things, the former US intelligence officer has called the mansion a “nightmare”.
– It is a nightmarish environment for the careful handling of classified information, the officer has said, according to Reuters.
Gilded Ballroom
Donald Trump bought Mar-a-Lago in 1985.
The club’s membership fees have previously been $50,000 to $100,000, but after Trump won the 2016 presidential election, the membership fee increased to $200,000. Members are charged annual fees of several thousand dollars.
The manor was built in the 1920s. It was built by a millionaire and a socialite Marjorie Merriweather Postwhose father had gotten rich selling breakfast cereals.
Trump was in Florida whenever possible. He also hosted many heads of state and their entourages there.
In 2017, Trump’s guest was the then prime minister of Japan Shinzo Abe. In the middle of dinner, Trump received information that North Korea has conducted a missile test. At that time, classified papers were spread on the dinner table and the guests who were part of the party posted pictures of the situation on Twitter.
Guests also listened from the sidelines as Trump and Abe pondered what to say in their statement. After the statement was made, Trump left for the wedding reception.
“Trump was so lax about security that he had a sensitive meeting about a possible war topic that could be monitored and photographed by government employees outside the United States,” said a national security lawyer. Mark Zaid for Reuters.
According to Zaid, it would have been easy for outsiders to listen and record what was discussed in the mansion.
Security room for help
Reuters reports that White House aides set up a safe room at Mar-a-Lago where confidential and sensitive conversations would take place.
President of China Xi Jinping during the visit, Trump ordered airstrikes on Syria from the safe room. After returning to the dinner table, Trump and Xi enjoyed chocolate cake for dessert, during which Trump told Xi about the airstrikes.
In 2019, a Chinese woman entered Mar-a-Lago with a memory card encoded with “malicious” software.
The woman was arrested. At that time, the Chief of Staff of the White House John Kelly tried to limit who in the future could be a guest of Trump’s mansion. However, the company was abandoned because Trump refused to cooperate.