Page 140 - Trump Never Give Up: How I Turned My Biggest Challenges into Success

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A TT ACKED FOR T R YING TO C HANGE A NYTHING

ignated the estate as a national historic site and the property
was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
After Ms. Post’s death in 1973, the estate was transferred,
according to her will, to the federal government for use as a
presidential retreat or for diplomatic purposes. Ten years later,
because there were security concerns as well as a huge mainte-
nance bill, the government conferred the title back to the Post
Foundation. Then I came along in 1985.
A lot happened between 1985, which was my first glimpse of
this spectacular wreck, until 1995, when it was opened as a pri-
vate club. Buying the property was the easy part—there weren’t
too many legitimate offers out there. I paid the Post Foundation a
grand total of $8 million for the house and the grounds, includ-
ing $3 million for all of the original furnishings. This included
the china, the crystal, and the goldware. This was a record-set-
ting price, but in reality it was a low price for Mar-a-Lago.
Another reality I was soon to face was the opposition of
Dina Merrill, Mrs. Post’s daughter. Although she was more con-
cerned with her acting career than the well being of this price-
less estate, she did everything she could to thwart me. However,
other members of the Post family took my side and realized that
I would preserve the integrity and elegance of Mar-a-Lago. One
of them, Marjorie Post Dye, the first grandchild and namesake
of Marjorie Merriweather Post, referred to me as “a big, blue-
eyed guardian angel hovering in a holding pattern just waiting
to land and take charge.” This family member later told me I
had saved Mar-a-Lago. My point is this: You will always have
detractors. That’s life. The higher you aim, the more opposi-
tion you will encounter. In spite of this, there will always be
someone who will see your good motives for what they are.
Around Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago was known as a White
Elephant—magnificent, but impossible to maintain. Jimmy
Carter gave it back to the Post Foundation because of what it
was costing the taxpayers to maintain. As you know by now, I

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