'They blow their top': Wealthy Palm Beach residents fuming over MAGA invasion
Donald Trump's 2024 presidential election win is creating havoc in his hometown of Palm Beach as supporters and supplicants invade the town causing traffic problems for some of the wealthy denizens who don't appreciate the crowds and the traffic they bring.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Trump making his Mar-a-Lago resort his home after he bolted out of New York City has created problems for the beach community that has only grown since he was re-elected.
The report notes the Secret Service shutdowns of main routes about town has riled longtime residents –– in particular some of the wealthier ones who are not used to being inconvenienced.
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As the Journal's Holly Peterson wrote, "New security measures, introduced after the assassination attempts over the summer, have made travel by air, land and sea in Palm Beach a testing affair whenever Trump’s in town. The president-elect now crosses blockaded bridges like Brezhnev’s Soviet convoys speeding through Moscow’s emptied thoroughfares."
The report adds that some trips that "once took nine minutes can now take an hour, depending on the time of day," with Peterson reporting, "This means the billionaires with estates within this mile-long zone need a special pass to get home. Everyone else living or working on either side of this zone has to drive over a drawbridge to the mainland, then back over another drawbridge onto the island again."
According to Tom Quinn who has maintained a home there for five decades, "The number one topic at any meal is parking and traffic. Wealthy people are used to paying their way out of travel inconveniences. When they can’t, they blow their top.”
The report adds that complaints reached such a fever pitch that "Local officials have threatened to shut down Mar-a-Lago or yank the special agreements that allow for parties there."
That led Palm Beach Mayor Danielle Moore to assert at a town meeting, "In my mind, if the road is closed, the Mar-a-Lago Club is closed.”
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