Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Impact on Palm Beach Traffic & Lifestyle

The Southern Bridge that connects the nether end of tony Palm Beach Island to the mainland city of West Palm Beach was once a calm overpass where people strolled alongside Bentleys over the Intracoastal Waterway. But since Donald Trump’s victory in November’s presidential election, news crews have amassed on the West Palm side, while tourists are huddled on a small island adjacent to the bridge, iPhone cameras fully zoomed in and aimed at Mar-a-Lago, which sits just yards away. 

All are hoping to catch a glimpse of the bustling activity at the president-elect’s beach club estate home and club, which Trump called the “Winter White House” during his first term. In addition to a steady flow of world leaders, tech moguls once critical of Trump — including Elon Musk, Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg and Hollywood heavyweights like David Zaslav and Ari Emanuel — all have made the pilgrimage in recent days. According to Trump’s social media, Bill Gates is expected any minute. Mar-a-Lago, where memberships now go for a cool million, also has been the site of many events and parties studded with right-leaning celebrities, such as a nonprofit gala attended by Russell Brand and Mel Gibson, a concert by Beach Boy Mike Love, and a New Year’s Eve bash where Lara Trump got up onstage to belt out Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down’’ and Musk and Trump awkwardly fist-pumped to “Y.M.C.A.” 

Locals long have prized Palm Beach for its restrained serenity. That sense of calm was disrupted during the pandemic by an influx of wealthy New Yorkers and West Coasters drawn to Florida’s lax COVID restrictions and lower taxes. This year, well-heeled swarms have reached previously unseen levels, with Trump calling Palm Beach “the center of the universe’’ and developer Steve Ross dubbing it “the new Silicon Valley.” Inhabitants are deeply divided over its transformed profile. And the problem has less to do with Trump’s politics than with traffic. 

Since the election, A1A, the beautiful and narrow road that winds along the ocean into town, has been blocked off to ensure Trump’s security. The conveyor belt of high-profile guests and foreign heads of state has only caused further headaches. Anyone heading north into town, or south to hotels and private clubs, now needs to cross a bridge to West Palm and then cross back over. Sometimes, one or two of the bridges are even closed.

“My little commute into town that used to take 20 minutes can now take an hour and a half,’’ sighs hair guru Paul Labrecque, who has salons in New York and on Palm Beach Island and lives on the southern strip. “I can’t risk being late for my clients, so I have to leave an hour earlier every day.’’

Jewelry designer Ilene Joy, who lives in L.A. but has homes in Palm Beach and New York, feels that the throngs of Trump courtiers and additional security measures have drastically changed the spirit of the town. “It’s insane that you leave the island to get back on the island,’’ she says. “It is making it difficult for everyone’s daily life.” 

Some people are enlivened by the energy. “Palm Beach is on fire. You have billionaires and mere millionaires. It’s never been this buzzy,” says socialite and PR consultant R. Couri Hay, who was a guest at Mar-a-Lago in December. “The power is palpable.”

“Visitation to The Palm Beaches has steadily risen over the past few years because of a combination of factors including what experts refer to as the ‘Trump Bump’ effect specifically in the past year,” said Milton Segarra, president & CEO of Discover The Palm Beaches, Palm Beach County’s official tourism marketing organization. “ Live broadcasts from reporters have showcased our warm weather, tropical palm trees, and stunning city backdrops, providing invaluable exposure for our destination.”

In the two weeks following the election, there was a 90% increase in prospective buyer inquiries at the new Ritz-Carlton Residences Palm Beach Gardens, compared with the previous month, according to  Chris Cox, sales director at The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Palm Beach Gardensand broker associate with Douglas Elliman.

Real estate prices, meanwhile, never have been higher. “Trump has attracted a lot of high-profile people who are buying very expensive homes, and that market is robust,” says Cappy Abraham, a top agent on the island. It’s little wonder those eyeing Palm Beach real estate are among the richest people on earth. Musk, Trump’s designated federal budget slasher, is said to be purchasing beauty mogul Sydell Miller’s penthouse atop The Bristol in West Palm Beach for $100 million, former Apple CEO John Sculley recently announced the expansion of his Palm Beach mansion, and Bezos is rumored to be eyeing a condo in West Palm.

“But others are tearing their hair out because Trump’s golf course is in West Palm, so when he [plays], he has to cross the bridge, and you can sit on the road for over half an hour waiting for the entourage to pass,” says Abraham. “Everybody wants him to be safe, but the island wasn’t built for all this traffic.”

Family and staff of those with multi-million-dollar mansions along A1A are now being subject to full searches. “Security will check your car, pop the hood and have the bomb dogs sniff before they let you through,” says Adam McPherson, a high-end agent at Douglas Elliman who grew up in Palm Beach. “Rod Stewart [who lives near Mar-a-Lago] can’t even go to lunch on Worth Avenue without leaving the island to get there.”

Since Trump’s first term, the hyper-exclusive Bath and Tennis Club next to Mar-a-Lago has been required by Secret Service to let Mar-a-Lago members use its parking lot — a hard pill for the historically restrictive blue-blood enclave to swallow. In recent weeks, they’ve had to share sand with guests including Benjamin Netanyahu and Don King. 

The attention-seekers swarming Mar-a-Lago regularly spill over onto the adjacent property. “Last week, there was a streaker who ran by and ended up at the B&T, and every day people have to be escorted off their property,’’ says Hay. “They have been forced to hire private security to keep these people away.’’ 

Palm Beach Island has just one grocery store, one gas station and doesn’t even allow shooting of film or television, which is one of the reasons all media is stationed across the water in West Palm. “It’s funny for us to see a news network broadcasting from what they say is Mar-a-Lago, and it’s actually the park outside West Palm Beach,’’ says McPherson. 

Shannon Donnelly, the doyenne of Palm Beach society chroniclers, says that while New Yorkers are already assimilating and beginning to understand the local customs, the recent techie arrivals are still newbies, attached to crunchy Silicon Valley ways. 

“These California people will be demanding a Whole Foods on the island or asking the Breakers to serve organic chicken,” she says with a sigh. But, she has no doubt, they eventually will pick up the cultural cues. 

And though the housing market is booming, people who already own homes are feeling the downside. “The real estate people are getting rich — they make a living, but the people here are suffering,” says Donnelly. “Palm Beach doesn’t like the spotlight. People can’t get a parking space at Publix, and they can’t get their kids into school.” That could soon get even more difficult. “We are seeing a number of new buyers from as local as Miami and as far away as the Middle East. The whole world is looking,” says McPherson. 

“Everyone wants a piece of Palm Beach,’’ says Doug Evans, president and CEO of the Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce. “This is a singular moment in our history that’ll probably never be repeated. It’s good for the economy, good for hotels, and there is a new diversity.’’

Adds Christine Pressman, who moved to the upscale haven 10 years ago with her husband, Gene Pressman, former CEO of Barneys: “Palm Beach will never go back to being the sweet town it was. Some people are upset, but if you live here and want to do business, there is no better time.” 

This story appeared in the Jan. 9 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.