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Thursday, March 17, 2016

How Donald Trump spends his time at his luxurious 20-acre Mar-a-Lago estate, according to his butler of 30 years


The resort comprises a white and gold ballroom, a spa, six tennis courts, a pool, eight cabanas, and a beach
[ The resort comprises a white and gold ballroom, a spa, six tennis courts, a pool, eight cabanas, and a beach]

  • Anthony Senecal, 74, has been master of the resort for 30 years
  • He says Donald Trump wakes up every morning at 4 to read the papers
  • The GOP frontrunner 'likes his steak rock hard, no one can touch his hair'
  • His ex-wife Ivana 'ordered gardeners away so she could swim naked' 
  • 'Guests have included Hillary Clinton, Tony Bennett, Chris Christie' 

  • Donald Trump rises every morning at 4am after just three hours sleep. 
    He collects five or six newspapers, then retreats for hours before emerging in golf gear. 
    He likes his steak rock hard - 'it would rock on the plate, it was so well done' - and wouldn't be caught dead in swimming trunks as he doesn't like swimming. 
    This is all according to Anthony Senecal, 74, who has been master of Trump's 118-room Mediterranean-style Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, for 30 years and has offered the New York Times a glimpse into his eccentric boss's life. 
    Despite having his own private hair salon on the resort, the GOP frontrunner refuses to let anyone touch his hair, Senecal remarks. 
    When he wears a white cap, he is in a good mood. When he wears a red cap, he is in a bad mood. 
    And over the years he has had a roster of exes who tried - and failed - to put their stamp on the place, including Marla Maples who 'really didn't belong here'.  


    Anthony Senecal, 74, (pictured with Donald Trump) has been master of the 118-room Mediterranean-style resort for 30 years. He says the mogul wears a red hat when he's in a bad mood, and white in a good mood 
    [Anthony Senecal, 74, (pictured with Donald Trump) has been master of the 118-room Mediterranean-style resort for 30 years. He says the mogul wears a red hat when he's in a bad mood, and white in a good mood] 

    Part of the furniture: Senecal at a grand piano in the Mar-a-Lago estate. He tried to retire years ago but Trump kept him on as de facto historian of the resort, which was built in 1927 for Marjorie Merriweather Post 
    [ Part of the furniture: Senecal at a grand piano in the Mar-a-Lago estate. He tried to retire years ago but Trump kept him on as de facto historian of the resort, which was built in 1927 for Marjorie Merriweather Post ] 

    The real estate mogul lives in extremes, Senecal remarks - doling out $100 bills to his groundsmen on a good day, and wheeling off in his golf cart on a gloomy one.
    To lift his mood, Senecal has a roster of tricks. 
    Once, the Times reports, 'Mr. Senecal quickly hired a bugler to play "Hail to the Chief" as Mr. Trump stepped out of his limousine to enter Mar-a-Lago.'
    And, he reveals, he refers to Trump as 'king': 'You can always tell when the king is here.'
    Indeed, the resort is regal. 
    It comprises a white and gold ballroom, a spa, six tennis courts, a pool, eight seaside cabanas, and a private beach. 


    And after the real estate mogul bought the estate in 1985, he turned the library into a bar and hung a painting of himself, in tennis whites, on the wall.
    Over the years, the resort has played host to all kinds of wealthy, rich, famous, and powerful pass through the resort.
    Hillary Clinton dropped by for Trump's 2005 wedding to his current wife Melania, he said, adding that Tony Bennett performed. 
    That year, Oprah Winfrey threw a party for Maya Angelou at the resort. 
    Now, Chris Christie is a regular feature on the sun loungers. 
    He also gives his two cents on the ex-wives that tried and failed to put their stamp on the estate.
    Ivana ordered gardeners to move inside so she could swim naked, Senecal recalled to the Times.
    Marla Maples 'really didn't belong here'.  

      Marla Maples 'really didn't belong here', Senecal said in his scathing review of Trump's ex-wives 
    [Marla Maples 'really didn't belong here', Senecal said in his scathing review of Trump's ex-wives ] 

    Ivana Trump would order gardeners to move inside so she could swim naked in the pool, Senecal recalled 
    [Ivana Trump would order gardeners to move inside so she could swim naked in the pool, Senecal recalled ] 

    Having dropped his butler duties to become the resort's de facto historian, Senecal often calls out Trump for embellishing the truth about the estate built for Marjorie Merriweather Post in 1927.
    He tells the Times that Trump once claimed the tiles in Ivanka's room were made by a young Walt Disney, which is not true.
    He also describes cushioning the mogul's ego by lying about how far he hit a golf ball.
    All the demands and eccentricities are worth it for Senecal, who regularly posts 'Trump For President' memes on social media. 
     You can always tell when the king is here
    Trump's butler Anthony Senecal 
    He is a member of Facebook groups such as 'The Trump Tsunami Is Coming' and 'The Trump Revolution'.
    Gushing about the mogul-turned-politico, he says he regularly walks through the resort handing $100 bills to the Hispanic ground-keepers. 
    Before taking up his role, Senecal worked in a number of different industries - restaurant owner, school teacher, radio host, tobacco shop owner, before retiring to Florida where he was scouted to be a butler. 
    He also took a brief hiatus from his role in the Trump estate to serve as mayor of Martinsburg, Virginia, from 1990 to 1992.
    His policy proposals included forcing all panhandlers to carry a $25 begging license - a move Trump allegedly praised. 
    However, he is now content back in his life at Mar-a-Lago, and reflects fondly on watching Trump's children grow up. 
    He tried to retire in 2009, but was dissuaded by Trump who said: 'Tony, to retire is to expire'.  



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