Author Laurence Leamer has signed on to write a book about Donald Trump's influence on Palm Beach, Florida, and how he improved the town when he bought Mar-a-Lago and opened the club to everyone, Page Six's Richard Johnson reports.
Leamer, who penned 2009's “Madness Under the Royal Palms,” has signed with Flatiron Books to write “Trump’s Palm Beach” to explain how the town was transformed by the billionaire businessman-turned-president, according to Johnson's report in the New York Post's Page Six.
“The other clubs were all restricted. He opened it up and made it more democratic,” Leamer told Johnson. Trump had to sue to turn the estate into a private club that would accept people of every race, creed, and sexual orientation as members, Leamer said.
Trump ended up having to battle in court over many details about the club, including minor things like the size of the flagpole, but he succeeded in broadening the club’s membership base, which Leamer says improved the atmosphere of the entire town.
“He’s so litigious,” Leamer joked, “I’m surprised he didn’t name his daughter Sue.”
Trump purchased Mar-a-Lago in 1985, and the members-only club is now often referred to as the "Winter White House." Trump also owns the nearby Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.
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