Donald Trump’s Caribbean estate, Le Chateau des Palmiers, recently hit the market and as the Washington Post reports, the listing is prompting questions:
Le Chateau des Palmiers, which President Trump described as “one of the greatest mansions in the world” when he bought it in 2013, was quietly listed for sale last month on the website of Sotheby’s International Realty, whose St. Martin office noted coyly in an Instagram post, “It’s huuuuuge!” The price, according to a person familiar with the listing: $28 million.
Trump has a history of magically selling properties to Russian billionaires for far, far above their actual value. For instance, when Trump bought Florida estate for $40 million and only two years later, Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev bought it for $95 million. Magic!
If the Caribbean property sells, we may never know who purchased it or how much they paid:
The effort to sell the high-priced estate in the midst of Trump’s tenure could present a similar ethical problem to the one his lawyer cited in defending his decision not to sell off his company after the election: that a buyer could overpay as a way to gain currency with the president.
If the estate is sold, the public probably would learn little, if anything, about who has purchased it.
Real estate agents contacted by the Washington Post raised eyebrows at the listing price:
Four St. Martin real estate agents told The Washington Post that the $28 million price tag far outstrips the amount that sellers are getting for the most exclusive properties on the Caribbean island, where the market is still rebounding from the 2008 banking crisis.
Why unload this estate right now? This appears to be yet another case of Trump cashing in on the presidency. It may even be a violation of the Emoluments Clause:
“No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”