President Trump’s golf club in West Palm Beach is asking for rent relief, citing the “significant impact” to business caused by the coronavirus shutdowns.
Trump International Golf Club finance director Ed Raymundo submitted a letter to the county requesting rent abatement, according to the Palm Beach Post. The 27-hole golf club pays a combined $88,338 a month to lease the land from the county and its Department of Airports.
Trump International has paid rent through June. The rent relief it’s seeking would have to be approved by the Palm Beach County Commission. The commission already agreed to defer rent for tenants such as cafes and coffee shops leasing space at county properties, according to the report.
Raymundo first reached out to the county about its monthly rent on March 25, when Palm Beach ordered parks and golf courses closed. He noted that the closures resulted in the cancellation of events and that the order requiring New Yorkers to self-quarantine for two weeks “further hampers our operation,” he wrote in an email.
President Trump’s properties, including Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach and Trump International Hotel & Tower in Manhattan, have laid off more than 1,300 employees since March, including letting go 560 employees at Trump National Doral and more than 150 workers at Mar-a-Lago.
The president has spent 83 days at Trump International during his presidency out of the 127 days he’s visited Mar-a-Lago, making it the South Florida golf club he’s spent the most time at since he took office. [PB Post] — Katherine Kallergis