‘Good riddance. It’s not like Mr. Trump paid taxes here anyway. He’s all yours, Florida…’
(Ben Sellers, Liberty Headline) The business-hostile taxes and radical social agenda that have overtaken New York have driven many of its wealthy citizens take flight. On Thursday, the Big Apple reportedly lost one more: President Donald Trump.
Following a New York Times report that he had quietly filed the change-of-residence paperwork, Trump—a life-long New Yorker—confirmed via Twitter on Friday that he was planning to change his primary residence from Fifth Avenue to Florida, where he regularly retreats to his longtime residence at Palm Beach’s Mar-A-Lago.
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the White House, is the place I have come to love and will stay for, hopefully, another 5 years as we MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, but my family and I will be making Palm Beach, Florida, our Permanent Residence. I cherish New York, and the people of…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 1, 2019
“[D]espite 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,” Trump continued.
Even so, he added, he still holds deep his affection for it. “As President, I will always be there to help New York and the great people of New York,” he said. “It will always have a special place in my heart!”
Trump’s former home state—led by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and a far-left legislature—has pushed the limits on sanctuary laws for illegal immigrants, extreme abortion practices and attempts to deny gun-owners of their Second Amendment rights.
It also has become a financial money pit due to its profligate spending. Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, by capping the deduction limit on state and local taxes, barred one-percenters from taking advantage of loopholes that exploited the high-tax systems while punishing the average taxpayer.
Cuomo and other Democrats have blamed Trump’s closing of the loopholes as the source of their current woes, including a multi-billion-dollar budget shortfall.
Cuomo has fancied himself something of a foil to the world’s most powerful New Yorker, often denouncing and undermining federal policies.
Meanwhile, his attorney general, Letitia James, has spearheaded spurious efforts not only to challenge Trump policies, such as immigration, but to target him personally with lawsuits seeking access to his financial records.
Cuomo weighed in on the new development with yet another shot at the one-time Manhattan developer, whose investments undeniably helped revitalize it following a period of disrepute.
“Good riddance. It’s not like Mr. Trump paid taxes here anyway,” said Cuomo. “He’s all yours, Florida.”
Some, like the Wall Street Journal suggested that the move would be advantageous not only personally, but also politically for Trump as his 2020 re-election campaign picks up.
Florida, which Trump won in 2016, has long been one of a handful of narrowly split battleground states that can decide an election. It did just that in the 2000 competition between George W. Bush and Al Gore.
Although it currently is led by pro-Trump Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and two Republican senators, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, Democrats have continued to target it.
Both DeSantis and Scott underwent recounts and other legal challenges following last year’s election, as high-powered lawyers from the national Democratic Party flooded into Tallahassee.
A ballot initiative that was heavily funded by far-left billionaire George Soros also succeeded in restoring voting rights to thousands of Florida felons—comprising, in theory, roughly 10 percent of the voting-age population.
However, DeSantis later ordered that in order for felons to be eligible they must have settled all their debts with the state, including any criminal fines. Left-wing activists are continuing to challenge the policy in court.