Aerial photo taken after Trump said FBI agents had raided former US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida, on August 15, 2022.
Marco Bello | Reuters
Prominent Florida real estate, including former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club and various golf resorts, is out of the projected path of Category 5 Hurricane Milton, which is expected to make landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast later this week. be.
But the Sarasota office of Trump Media, Truth Social’s parent company, is directly in the storm’s expected line of sight.
Mar-a-Lago, Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, and Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter are all located in Palm Beach County. Trump National Doral Miami is located in Miami-Dade County.
Both areas are outside the National Weather Service’s forecast cone for Milton, but those forecasts are subject to change in the coming days.
Nevertheless, authorities have declared a local state of emergency in both counties, and both counties are also under flood watches. Residents are encouraged to develop evacuation plans and prepare disaster kits as Milton’s projected path evolves.
Meanwhile, Truth Social’s office is located directly within the area where Milton is expected to make landfall on the Gulf Coast late Wednesday.
Trump is the largest shareholder trump mediais a publicly traded company that primarily operates the Truth Social platform.
The company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in August that it had cut costs, including by reducing rent. But the most recent disclosure statement, filed Oct. 4, listed a Sarasota address and long-distance phone number as the company’s primary executive office.
Trump Media did not immediately respond to questions from CNBC about the offices, number and frequency of employees, and the company’s preparations for Milton. The former president himself does not own office property in Sarasota.
NOAA tracking Hurricane Milton on October 7, 2024.
Provided by: NOAA
Milton is currently under construction in the Gulf of Mexico and is increasing in strength by the hour, with sustained wind speeds of 275 miles per hour. It is expected to make landfall in Florida on Wednesday.
“Time is running out,” Keith Tulli, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s acting director for response and recovery, said on a call with reporters Monday. “Today and tomorrow are the only days left to prepare before landing.”
Trump’s Florida properties appear safe for now, but the storm has already disrupted some of his campaign plans.
The Republican presidential candidate was scheduled to record at City Hall on Tuesday with Univision, Miami’s major Spanish-language television station. But as Milton’s claims intensified, the campaign decided to reschedule the recording for next Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Trump’s Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, plans to tape another of her Univision town halls in Nevada on Thursday.
Milton is expected to arrive in the southeastern United States late Wednesday, on the heels of Hurricane Helen, a Category 4 storm that hit Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee.