Golden Age at Mar-a-Lago: Inside look at Trump's years in the Palm Beaches

When Donald Trump first arrived in Palm Beach — a sun-soaked enclave of Mediterranean-style mansions built for America’s wealthiest families — he made an immediate impression. 

Young, bold and brimming with ambition, Trump clashed with island residents, sparred with city leaders and even took county officials to court. At the same time, he embarked on one of his most audacious ventures: purchasing and painstakingly restoring Mar-a-Lago, the crown jewel of Palm Beach high society.

Then, in a move that defied the island’s tradition of exclusivity and discretion, he threw open its doors, hosting glittering galas and celebrity-studded parties that became the talk of the town. 

Trump, it soon became obvious, could not be contained. Over four decades in Palm Beach County, he expanded his family’s real estate empire, became a reality television star and ultimately ascended to the most powerful position in the world, president of the United States — transforming Mar-a-Lago into the storied “Winter White House.”

And then, remarkably, he did it again.

Our journalists and photographers at The Palm Beach Post and Palm Beach Daily News were there from the very beginning, capturing Trump’s evolution and the ripple effects of his presence on Palm Beach, Florida and the nation.

To chronicle that unique history, we produced a collector's edition book called "Golden Age at Mar-a-Lago: Donald Trump's 40 years of society, celebrity and presidency in the Palm Beaches." The book retails for $39.95 but order now for a 10% discount. (That’s $35.95, plus tax and shipping.) Although the book won’t be finished until after the 2026 Palm Beach season — to document Trump’s second winter of his second term — gift vouchers are available right now for holiday gift-giving.

This 176-page book chronicles that extraordinary journey with rare photographs — many never before published — alongside anecdotes and historical context only The Palm Beach Post and Palm Beach Daily News can provide. You'll learn how Trump, an underdog bidder, beat out rivals to buy Mar-a-Lago, and how he then fought town officials to turn it into a club. You'll read about his fight to keep a giant flagpole on his property and how he battled county officials to divert airplane traffic from above his mansion. You'll get details of what happened that night in 2017 when Trump and Japan's prime minister, along with about 100 Mar-a-Lago Club members, witnessed a "possible international crisis" as they were dining at a table on the terrace of Mar-a-Lago.

Inside these pages, you’ll find exclusive images of Trump with family, friends and business associates: his lavish Mar-a-Lago wedding to Melania, their son Barron as a toddler and Trump as president meeting world leaders such as Japan’s late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro. You’ll glimpse the gilded ballroom, sun-drenched poolside parties and stately rooms of Mar-a-Lago. You’ll see celebrities mingling at his legendary galas — and even a rare shot of Trump pumping gas at a West Palm Beach station to fuel his then-prized Lamborghini Diablo Roadster VT. 

This is the story of Donald Trump’s Palm Beach years — a saga of ambition, reinvention and influence unlike any other. This book provides historical insights into the life and times of our 45th and 47th president as the United States nears its 250th birthday.

For more details and to order, go to Trump47.PictorialBook.com. The book would be a perfect holiday gift for a history buff and anyone intrigued by a political force unlike any other in our country's history.

John Bisognano is Executive Editor of The Palm Beach Post and Palm Beach Daily News. Contact him at jbisognano@pbpost.com or on X @jbisognano