Former President Donald Trump’s sons say Mar-a-Lago has not been sold.
“This is pure FAKE NEWS and Zillow has corrected their listing,” Eric Trump, one of the sons, said in a statement. “Mar-a-Lago has not been sold or transferred in any regard.”
Zillow, a popular real estate listing website, lists properties in various conditions, including for sale, contingent, and sold.
Zillow listed Mar-a-Lago as being sold this week for $422 million.
That prompted reports, based on the listing, that the property was sold to Donald Trump Jr., another of President Trump’s children.
“I woke up this morning to numerous media reports claiming that my dad transferred ownership of Mar-a-Lago to me, and while anyone would love to be gifted one of the most beautiful properties in the entire world, it is nothing more than total and complete fake news,” Mr. Donald Trump Jr. told news outlets in a statement.
“A lot of media outlets should be embarrassed with themselves for running such a phony story, but we all know that most of them won’t even retract their reports because they have no shame. SAD!” he added.
A Zillow spokesperson said that the listing was posted erroneously by a person.
“Zillow strives for accuracy on our site and if we become aware of inaccurate information, we will update it immediately. After an investigation, it appears that the information provided was incorrect. We’ve corrected the information on this property,” the spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email.
An investigation is ongoing into whether a Zillow employee was responsible for the listing.
Zillow often pulls information from other sites, including Bright MLS, for its listings. Bright MLS is primarily used by real estate agents.
The Zillow listing in question is for 1100 South Ocean Boulevard in Palm Beach, Florida.
That’s where President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort is located. President Trump purchased the property in 1985, paying $2 million. He later established a club there, which is still in operation to the present day, while retaining a private residence on the grounds.
Mar-a-Lago Club Inc. owns the property. Mr. Donald Trump Jr. is currently listed as the vice president and treasurer for the firm, with President Trump being listed as the president.
The property is listed as having 58 bedrooms and 33 bathrooms. It’s now listed as off the market.
Mar-a-Lago’s website describes it as “one of the most impressive and exclusive private clubs” with amenities including luxury dining, an oceanfront swimming pool, a spa, tennis courts, and a croquet court.
Surrender
The purported sale came as President Trump turned himself in on charges in Georgia. He was quickly released on $200,000 bond.President Trump is also facing three other sets of charges, including an indictment in New York.
He’s been accused of conspiring to obstruct the transfer of presidential power in 2021, obstructing an investigation into documents with classification markings, and making false statements while engaging with Georgia officials.
“If you challenge an election, you should be able to challenge an election. I thought the election was rigged election, a stolen election. And I should have every right to do that,” President Trump told reporters after being released.
Co-defendants in the Georgia case include President Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, and former Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark.
One of the cases centers in part around alleged conduct at Mar-a-Lago.
President Trump is accused of retaining without authorization sensitive documents at the club after exiting the presidency in early 2021. A federal indictment also alleges he worked with others to conceal documents from the FBI and a grand jury convened to probe the matter.
One of his employees, an unnamed person, has since agreed to testify that he lied to the grand jury, prosecutors said in a recent filing.
The employee, advised he could face perjury charges, recanted his testimony that he did not recall or did not have any conversations about security footage at President Trump’s resort, special counsel Jack Smith’s team said. The man provided information that “implicated” President Trump and the former president’s two co-defendants in the case, employees Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, the prosecutorial filing stated.
Stanley Woodward, a lawyer representing Mr. Nauta, responded on Friday, accusing Mr. Smith’s team of trying to get around an order sealing a prior submission he made.
“In what can only be described as a brazen and overt effort to influence the Court and/or the court of public opinion, the Special Counsel selectively quotes defense counsel’s submission in deliberate contravention of a sealing order issued by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia,” Mr. Woodward said. He asked the court for permission to file a reply.
