“Good luck”, “our condolences to Florida”: many New Yorkers on Friday applauded Donald Trump’s decision not to return to Manhattan after his departure from the White House, which seals the disenchantment between the American president and his hometown.
The president confirmed on Twitter Thursday evening that he had declared his resort in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, as his primary residence, rather than his luxurious triplex atop the Trump Tower. This 5th Avenue skyscraper has become the rallying point for many anti-Trump protests since his election in 2016.
Child of the district of Queens before embodying a certain New York ambition, the 73-year-old billionaire confirmed that he now prefers the Florida sun, above all evoking a particularly heavy New York tax for real estate owners, rather than the hostility towards him today in the American financial capital, a Democratic stronghold which voted 80% for Hillary Clinton.
“I love New York City, and New Yorkers, and always will be, but unfortunately, despite the millions I pay in city, local and state taxes each year, I have been very badly treated by elected officials of both the city and the state, ”he regretted.
….New York, and always will, but unfortunately, despite the fact that I pay millions of dollars in city, state and local taxes each year, I have been treated very badly by the political leaders of both the city and state. Few have been treated worse. I hated having to make….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 1, 2019
“Condolences to Florida”
The decision was applauded by theestablishment Democrat of New York.
“Good riddance,” Governor Andrew Cuomo notably launched on Twitter. “It’s not like he’s paying his taxes, anyway,” he added, referring to suspicions of tax evasion surrounding the president, who has always refused to publish his tax returns.
Good riddance.
It’s not like @realDonaldTrump paid taxes here anyway…
He’s all yours, Florida. https://t.co/9AX0q1aBkQ
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) November 1, 2019
Which earned him to be prosecuted by the Manhattan Democratic prosecutor, who claims eight years of declarations, prosecutions which it is not excluded that they will one day lead to an indictment.
“Sincere condolences to the good people of Florida,” Mayor Bill de Blasio also tweeted.
Several New Yorkers interviewed in the street also welcomed his departure.
“I don’t want him to come back. It’s just too much trouble, too much traffic jam. And then he’s going to be f… ”said Joe, a 34-year-old engineer, refusing to give his last name.
Yovo Addo, 38, a lifelong New Yorker, was more nuanced.
“He did a lot of things for the city, including philanthropy,” he said. “But he also made some controversial decisions. It is not good for a city with such a diverse population. If he came back and wanted to impose his ideals again, I don’t think that his ideas would be tolerated, ”he said.
In fact, Donald Trump’s decision seems to confirm his disenchantment with a city of which he has long represented “the hard spirit of business”, with its ambitions and excess, underlines Sam Abrams, professor of political science at Sarah Lawrence University, near from New York.
Since arriving at the White House, he has spent just 20 days in Trump Tower compared to 99 days in Mar-a-Lago, according to NBC.
He’s due to make a cameo appearance again this weekend in Manhattan, which is already sparking ironic comments and fears of aggravated traffic jams.
From renewal to disenchantment
In the 1980s, when he inaugurated the Trump Tower and reopened a Central Park ice rink beloved by New Yorkers, he embodied the renewal of a city long plagued by a tax crisis and high crime.
His alleged extramarital affairs, until his third marriage to a young Slovenian immigrant, Melania, which feed the celebrity press, help to forge this image of a success sweeping away convenience.
If he then sinks into debt, he continues to project the image of the brash New Yorker, becoming the star of the TV show. The Apprentice, which will make its reputation across the country.
But since his arrival at the White House, “he no longer seems proud to be New Yorker, to reflect New York values, to love diversity. He displays opposing positions, ”according to Sam Abrams, going so far as to refuse federal funding for a key tunnel to unclog New York.
“He was seen as someone who took care of New York, but as president, he night in New York,” says Abrams.
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