Gold Coast mayor reveals Trump Organisation paid for accommodation during meeting
Updated ,first published
Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate said the Trump Organization paid for accommodation at Mar-a-Lago, where he met the US president in February, but taxpayers footed the flight bill.
In an updated version of the record of interest on the council’s website, Tate said the company covered the cost of lodging, meals and transportation to and from the Miami airport during his trip to the resort, which is also the president’s home.
However, a council spokesman said the council was covering the costs of all Mayoral Mission-related flights.
The meeting with the president and his son, Eric Trump, was part of a two-night stay at the resort during a month-long trip abroad at the beginning of the year.
Less than two weeks later, Eric Trump went to X to announce the planned organization. Build a 91-storey skyscraper in Surfers ParadiseIt will be the Gold Coast’s tallest building and the first Trump Tower in Australia.
David Young, an executive at Australian developer Altus, signed a deal with the organization during a trip to Mar-a-Lago in February.
“I am very proud to announce what will soon be Australia’s tallest building,” the US president’s son wrote to X less than two weeks after Tate’s visit.
Earlier this month, Tate said taxpayers did not foot the bill for the trip, but declined to elaborate on how the trip was paid for.
“Part of the trip I paid for, and the other part was an invitation by the Trump Organization to come there as mayor of the city,” he said in an interview with ABC in early March.
“I was there as the mayor of the city; this is a gift to the city, not to me.
“I’m pretty sure Tom Tate won’t get an invite, the mayor of the Gold Coast did.”
While no planning application has been made for the beach tower, there are heated debates about whether it will be built or not.
An online petition calling for development to be halted had garnered more than 138,000 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon.
“Beyond the issues of overdevelopment, environmental impact and pressure on local infrastructure, many residents are deeply uncomfortable with the Trump brand and what it represents,” he said.
Tate has been reached for comment.
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