MIAMI — Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison is optimistic about his party’s chances in the Sunshine State, despite its electoral votes going to Republicans in the last two presidential elections.
“Florida is in play,” Harrison told CBS News Miami in an interview Saturday. “Florida, Florida, Florida.”
“For the first time in 30 years, you have Democrats running in every seat in the state House, the state Senate, and [at] the congressional level,” he added.
Both Miami-Dade and Broward counties went for President Biden in 2020, while former President Donald Trump won the state by about three percentage points that year.
Florida has about 5.38 million registered Republicans and 4.35 million registered Democrats, according to the latest numbers from the Florida Department of State’s website. There are also about 3.54 million unaffiliated voters.
Harrison argues that Florida Democrats were hampered in 2020 by the pandemic.
“Because of COVID, Democrats weren’t able to put a field operation on the ground, to knock on doors, to communicate with voters,” Harrison said.
Democrat Lucia Baez-Geller is challenging Republican Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar in the House, while former Democratic Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is trying to unseat Republican Sen. Rick Scott.
In the Senate race, Republicans are outspending Democrats on advertising by a four-to-one margin, according to AdImpact, which tracks spending on campaigns. Harrison isn’t fazed by this, however.
“I think you will see a surge of resources coming in,” Harrison said. “I’ve just done a few tweets…over the last few days for Debbie, and we’re seeing money coming in.”
About a week after the apparent assassination attempt on Trump in West Palm Beach, Harrison hopes that the political rhetoric can be toned down in the final stretch before Election Day.
“We have to turn it down on an individual basis,” Harrison said. “And it’s sad to see the attempts. And I know that there have been threats to Vice President Harris. There have been threats to President Biden in the past. There have been threats to President Obama in the past. This violence has to end.”
Florida Republican Party Chair Evan Power responded to Harrison’s remarks to CBS Miami, saying in a statement that “the Democrats can say whatever they want, but here are the facts: Florida Republicans have out-registered, out-raised, and out-worked the Florida Democrats. Anyone telling you Florida is in play for Democrats should not be taken seriously.”
The last time Florida went blue in a presidential election was for President Obama in 2012, when he won by about a single percentage point.
Steve Maugeri joined the CBS News Miami team in April 2024. Steve has always loved the beach and is excited to live this close to the ocean within a major city as well!
The Florida Lottery recently announced that Soignese Youte, of Miramar, claimed a $1 million top prize from the $5 MONOPOLY DOUBLER scratch-off game at the Lottery’s Miami District Office.
The Broward County winner chose to receive her winnings as a one-time, lump-sum payment of $798,985.00.
The South Florida woman purchased her winning ticket from Le Phare Food Market, located at 16784 Northeast 2nd Avenue in North Miami Beach. The retailer received a $2,000 bonus commission for selling the winning scratch-off ticket.
The $5 Monopoly Doubler scratch-off game features more than 9.4 million winning tickets and over $132.6 million in cash prizes, including 12 top prizes of $1 million.
The game’s overall odds of winning are 1-in-3.98.
Scratch-off games are an important part of the Lottery’s portfolio of games, comprising approximately 74 percent of ticket sales in fiscal year 2023-2024. Additionally, since inception, scratch-off games have awarded more than $63.1 billion in prizes, created 2,175 millionaires, and generated more than $18.95 billion for the state’s Educational Enhancement Trust Fund (EETF).
The Florida Lottery is responsible for contributing more than $46 billion to enhance education and sending more than 983,000 students to college through the Bright Futures Scholarship Program. The Florida Lottery reinvests 99 percent of its revenue into Florida’s economy through prize payouts, commissions to more than 13,600 Lottery retailers, and transfers to education. Since 1988, Florida Lottery games have paid more than $95.7 billion in prizes and made more than 4,000 people millionaires.
PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Areas of South Florida are at risk for afternoon thunderstorms on Saturday afternoon and a heat dome will affect temperatures on Sunday.
The forecast includes a few strong afternoon thunderstorms capable of producing strong wind gusts and small hail. The risk increases after 2 p.m.
The temperature is forecast to peak at 94 degrees with a heat index in the low 100s on Saturday. A heat dome will raise temperatures on Sunday and Monday.
For travelers during this busy weekend, severe weather disruptions are likely in northern Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Kansas. There were tornadoes in Iowa and Illinois on Friday.
For those staying home, The Weather Authority’s local live radar, the hour-to-hour and 10-day forecasts are available on this page.
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Copyright 2024 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.
A crash on the MacArthur Causeway led to major traffic tie-ups in the Monday morning rush hour.
Miami Herald
A crash on the MacArthur Causeway in the morning rush hour led to extensive traffic backups and escalated when a woman with a screwdriver tried to attack a man.
The crash happened just before 6 a.m. in the eastbound lanes of the causeway, near U.S. 1, blocking all three lanes. Footage from 7Skyforce showed two heavily damaged cars — a black BMW and a white Toyota SUV — and traffic backed up to the entrance of I-95, according to a 7 News Miami report.
Shortly later, a woman believed to be driving the black car attempted to attack a man with a screwdriver, believed to be the driver of the SUV, according to news reports. The black car was rear-ended by the SUV. A second man intervened but not before the woman and the man tussled on the ground and she had to be pulled off him.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers, assisted by Miami-Dade Police, were on the scene. The causeway is now open.
Michael Butler writes about the residential and commercial real estate industry and trends in the local housing market. Just like Miami’s diverse population, Butler, a Temple University graduate, has both local roots and a Panamanian heritage.
Spirit Airlines celebrated the official opening of Spirit Central, its new corporate campus at Dania Pointe in Dania Beach, Florida.
The campus spans more than 11 acres and features four buildings, including a support center with offices, an amenity building, a new crew training facility built for hands-on experience in flight simulators, and a corporate housing facility. Additionally, the campus also includes dedicated parking garages for Spirit Team Members.
The new Spirit Central provides an expansive, centralized location for the airline’s main support teams and is only a few minutes away from Spirit’s largest operating base at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL).
“The opening of Spirit Central marks a major milestone as we celebrate a new chapter in our more than 30-year history and reflect on how far we’ve come in our mission to deliver high-value travel options across the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean,” said Ted Christie, Spirit’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Spirit is proud to make this major investment in Broward County, drive local economic development, and further strengthen our commitment to the South Florida community.”
The new campus interior includes design features that pay tribute to Spirit, including an 18-foot-long Airbus A321neo model plane, a 3D engine cowling, a gallery showcasing the famous “Howdy” sharklet, a history wall, and more. The main buildings on the campus include:
Support Center: The largest of all four buildings is approximately 180,000 square feet and features six floors of office space for more than 1,000 corporate Team Members from the Operations Control Center, IT, Flight Operations, Inflight and more.
Fueling Station: The amenity building is easily accessible from the first floor of the Support Center and features a café, fitness center, and lounge spaces exclusive to our Team Members.
Training Hub: The state-of-the-art training facility for Inflight and Flight Ops Teams will boast several high-tech flight simulator bays and fixed flight simulators, an advanced Cabin Emergency Evacuation Trainer (CEET), a door trainer, classrooms, and debriefing rooms.
The Landing: The corporate housing facility will be the home away from home for out-of-town Team Members visiting for company business and features accommodations for up to 400 Team Members, several meeting rooms, a grab-and-go market, a pool, a fitness center, and its own parking garage.
In celebration of Spirit Central’s official opening, the Spirit Charitable Foundation donated $25,000 to Dania Beach PATCH (Peoples Access to Community Horticulture), an urban farm and market created to provide local access to healthy foods and horticulture. The donation advances the Foundation’s Environment pillar by investing in a platform for education, cultural growth, access to healthy foods & community gardening, and economic development.
Spirit partnered with Florida-based architectural firm HuntonBrady, general contractor Brasfield & Gorrie, and project advisor Jones Lang LaSalle to design and build Spirit Central. The airline worked with Kimco Realty, the owner and principal developer of Dania Pointe, to secure the land.
The relocation from Spirit’s Miramar, Florida, facilities to Spirit Central in Dania Beach is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
MIAMI – Former Florida governor and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham has died. Graham, who chaired the Intelligence Committee following the 2001 terrorist attacks and opposed the Iraq invasion, was 87.
His family announced the death Tuesday in a statement posted on X by his daughter Gwen Graham.
The Florida Democratic Party issued the following statement on Graham’s passing:
“There are no words that can fully capture what Bob Graham meant to the state of Florida. A giant in Florida politics, Bob set the standard for every elected official who followed — both Democrat and Republican. He lived a life most of us could only dream of, one where he impacted the lives of millions with an unparalleled heart for service and a moral compass that always pointed true. Our hearts go out to Adele, Gwen, and the entire Graham family as they mourn their loss and celebrate his incredible life.
“Part of the DNA of every Florida Democrat is living up to the example Bob Graham set for us. As we honor his legacy, may we all love and serve Florida the way he did — with a twinkle in our eyes and a curiosity for things unknown.”
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava posted on X that he inspired so many.
I am deeply saddened to learn of Senator Bob Graham’s passing. He was not only a great friend and mentor, but also a role model whose dedication to public service inspired so many. My heartfelt condolences to his loved ones. May his legacy live on through the lives he touched. https://t.co/kqyIUj9FQA
Graham, who served three terms in the Senate, made an unsuccessful bid for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, emphasizing his opposition to the Iraq invasion.
But his bid was delayed by heart surgery in January 2003. Never able to gain enough traction with voters to catch up, he bowed out that October. He didn’t seek re-election in 2004 and was replaced by Republican Mel Martinez.
A man of many quirks, Graham perfected the “workdays” political gimmick of spending a day doing various jobs from horse stall mucker to FBI agent. He kept a meticulous diary, noting almost everyone he spoke with, everything he ate, the TV shows he watched and even his golf scores.
But he closed the notebooks to the media during his short-lived presidential bid.
Graham was among the earliest opponents of the Iraq war, saying it diverted America’s focus on the battle against terrorism centered in Afghanistan. He also criticized President George W. Bush for failing to have an occupation plan in Iraq after the U.S. military threw out Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Graham said Bush took the United States into the war by exaggerating claims of the danger presented by the Iraqi weapons of destruction that were never found. Saying Bush distorted intelligence data, Graham argued that was more serious than the sexual misconduct issues that led to President Clinton’s impeachment in the late 1990s.
The Town of Miami Lakes community mourns the passing of Senator Bob Graham. A key member & figure of our town’s history, his leadership and service will be celebrated long after his passing. Our thoughts and condolences are with his loved ones during this difficult time. pic.twitter.com/zFwBgpnWs8
It spurred Graham to launch his brief presidential bid.
“The quagmire in Iraq is a distraction that the Bush administration, and the Bush administration alone, has created,” Graham said in 2003.
As a politician, few were better. Florida voters hardly considered him the wealthy Harvard-educated attorney that he was.
Bob Graham was a good man and a great Floridian who dedicated his life to our state. His legacy will live forever, not because of any title he held, but for what he did with those opportunities to improve Florida and the lives of families in the Sunshine State.
Graham’s political career spanned five decades, beginning with his election to the Florida House of Representatives in 1966.
He won a state Senate seat in 1970, was elected governor in 1978, and was re-elected in 1982. Four years later, he won the first of three terms in the U.S. Senate when he ousted incumbent Republican Paula Hawkins.
Graham remained widely popular with Florida voters, winning re-election by wide margins in 1992 and 1998 when he carried 63 of 67 counties.
Even when in Washington, Graham never took his eye off the state and the leadership in Tallahassee.
When Gov. Jeb Bush and the Republican-controlled Legislature eliminated the Board of Regents in 2001, Graham saw it as a move to politicize the state university system. He led a successful petition drive the next year for a state constitutional amendment that created the Board of Governors to assume the regents’ role.
Daniel Robert Graham was born Nov. 9, 1936, in Coral Gables where his father, Ernest “Cap” Graham, had moved from South Dakota and established a large dairy operation. Young Bob milked cows, built fences and scooped manure as a teenager. One of his half-brothers, Phillip Graham, was publisher of The Washington Post and Newsweek until he committed suicide in 1963, just a year after Bob Graham’s graduation from Harvard Law.
In 1966 he was elected to the Florida Legislature, where he focused largely on education and health care issues.
But Graham got off to a shaky start as Florida’s chief executive, and was dubbed “Gov. Jello” for some early indecisiveness. He shook that label through his handling of several serious crises.
As governor, he also signed numerous death warrants, founded the Save the Manatee Club with entertainer Jimmy Buffett and led efforts to establish several environmental programs.
Graham pushed through a bond program to buy beaches and barrier islands threatened by development and also started the Save Our Everglades program to protect the state’s water supply, wetlands and endangered species.
Graham also was known for his 408 “workdays,” including stints as a housewife, boxing ring announcer, flight attendant and arson investigator.
“This has been a very important part of my development as a public official, my learning at a very human level what the people of Florida expect, what they want, what their aspirations are and then trying to interpret that and make it policy that will improve their lives” said Graham in 2004 as he completed his final job as a Christmas gift wrapper.
After leaving public life in 2005, Graham spent much of his time at a public policy center named after him at the University of Florida and pushing the Legislature to require more civics classes in the state’s public schools.
Graham was one of five members selected for an independent commission by President Barack Obama in June 2010 to investigate a massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that threatened sea life and beaches along several southeastern Gulf states.
Here’s the statement posted on X by his daughter Gwen Graham:
MIAMI – Former Florida governor and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham has died. Graham, who chaired the Intelligence Committee following the 2001 terrorist attacks and opposed the Iraq invasion, was 87.
His family announced the death Tuesday in a statement posted on X by his daughter Gwen Graham.
The Florida Democratic Party issued the following statement on Graham’s passing:
“There are no words that can fully capture what Bob Graham meant to the state of Florida. A giant in Florida politics, Bob set the standard for every elected official who followed — both Democrat and Republican. He lived a life most of us could only dream of, one where he impacted the lives of millions with an unparalleled heart for service and a moral compass that always pointed true. Our hearts go out to Adele, Gwen, and the entire Graham family as they mourn their loss and celebrate his incredible life.
“Part of the DNA of every Florida Democrat is living up to the example Bob Graham set for us. As we honor his legacy, may we all love and serve Florida the way he did — with a twinkle in our eyes and a curiosity for things unknown.”
Graham, who served three terms in the Senate, made an unsuccessful bid for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination, emphasizing his opposition to the Iraq invasion.
Former U.S. Senator and Florida Governor Bob Graham. (Source: CBS4)
But his bid was delayed by heart surgery in January 2003. Never able to gain enough traction with voters to catch up, he bowed out that October. He didn’t seek re-election in 2004 and was replaced by Republican Mel Martinez.
A man of many quirks, Graham perfected the “workdays” political gimmick of spending a day doing various jobs from horse stall mucker to FBI agent. He kept a meticulous diary, noting almost everyone he spoke with, everything he ate, the TV shows he watched and even his golf scores.
But he closed the notebooks to the media during his short-lived presidential bid.
Graham was among the earliest opponents of the Iraq war, saying it diverted America’s focus on the battle against terrorism centered in Afghanistan. He also criticized President George W. Bush for failing to have an occupation plan in Iraq after the U.S. military threw out Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Graham said Bush took the United States into the war by exaggerating claims of the danger presented by the Iraqi weapons of destruction that were never found. Saying Bush distorted intelligence data, Graham argued that was more serious than the sexual misconduct issues that led to President Clinton’s impeachment in the late 1990s.
The Town of Miami Lakes community mourns the passing of Senator Bob Graham. A key member & figure of our town’s history, his leadership and service will be celebrated long after his passing. Our thoughts and condolences are with his loved ones during this difficult time. pic.twitter.com/zFwBgpnWs8
It spurred Graham to launch his brief presidential bid.
“The quagmire in Iraq is a distraction that the Bush administration, and the Bush administration alone, has created,” Graham said in 2003.
As a politician, few were better. Florida voters hardly considered him the wealthy Harvard-educated attorney that he was.
Graham’s political career spanned five decades, beginning with his election to the Florida House of Representatives in 1966.
He won a state Senate seat in 1970, was elected governor in 1978 and was re-elected in 1982. Four years later, he won the first of three terms in the U.S. Senate when he ousted incumbent Republican Paula Hawkins.
Graham remained widely popular with Florida voters, winning re-election by wide margins in 1992 and 1998 when he carried 63 of 67 counties.
Even when in Washington, Graham never took his eye off the state and the leadership in Tallahassee.
When Gov. Jeb Bush and the Republican-controlled Legislature eliminated the Board of Regents in 2001, Graham saw it as a move to politicize the state university system. He led a successful petition drive the next year for a state constitutional amendment that created the Board of Governors to assume the regents’ role.
Daniel Robert Graham was born Nov. 9, 1936, in Coral Gables where his father, Ernest “Cap” Graham, had moved from South Dakota and established a large dairy operation. Young Bob milked cows, built fences and scooped manure as a teenager. One of his half-brothers, Phillip Graham, was publisher of The Washington Post and Newsweek until he committed suicide in 1963, just a year after Bob Graham’s graduation from Harvard Law.
In 1966 he was elected to the Florida Legislature, where he focused largely on education and health care issues.
But Graham got off to a shaky start as Florida’s chief executive, and was dubbed “Gov. Jello” for some early indecisiveness. He shook that label through his handling of several serious crises.
As governor, he also signed numerous death warrants, founded the Save the Manatee Club with entertainer Jimmy Buffett and led efforts to establish several environmental programs.
Graham pushed through a bond program to buy beaches and barrier islands threatened by development and also started the Save Our Everglades program to protect the state’s water supply, wetlands and endangered species.
Graham also was known for his 408 “workdays,” including stints as a housewife, boxing ring announcer, flight attendant and arson investigator.
“This has been a very important part of my development as a public official, my learning at a very human level what the people of Florida expect, what they want, what their aspirations are and then trying to interpret that and make it policy that will improve their lives” said Graham in 2004 as he completed his final job as a Christmas gift wrapper.
After leaving public life in 2005, Graham spent much of his time at a public policy center named after him at the University of Florida and pushing the Legislature to require more civics classes in the state’s public schools.
Graham was one of five members selected for an independent commission by President Barack Obama in June 2010 to investigate a massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that threatened sea life and beaches along several southeastern Gulf states.
Here’s the statement posted on X by his daughter Gwen Graham:
DAVIE, Fla. – An Amber Alert was issued Wednesday morning for an 8-month-old girl missing out of Davie who may be with a Broward County woman, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Amelia Martinez was last seen in the 4900 block of SW 148 Avenue in Davie, described as 1 foot in height and 35 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes, the alert states.
Amelia may be in the company of Arys Martinez, 34, of Davie, who authorities described as 5 feet, 5 inches tall and 140 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.
The two may be traveling in an unknown vehicle, according to FDLE.
Those who see the Amelia or know of her whereabouts are urged to contact FDLE or the Davie Police Department at 954-693-8200 or 911.
This April, when a 1,000-year storm drenched South Florida, my father and older sister were among the thousands of people abruptly hit with severe flash flooding. They made it out physically unscathed, but many of their possessions were reduced to waterlogged piles of debris. Among those ruined mementos were sets of baby clothes, which my sister had painstakingly preserved for the future but forgotten during the rush of the flood. More than half a year later, she’s still grieving them. “Stuff is stuff,” she told me. But those pieces of clothing had been in the family for decades; she had worn them, and so had her 2-year-old. She just wished, she told me, that she could have held on to those outfits, “and my daughter could have had them for her kids.”
People living in hurricane or earthquake zones have long been taught to be ready for the worst, but these new threats make “all hazards” preparedness that much more important for everyone, no matter your location. Emergency-management guidelines in the United States already include recommendations for every household to keep a supply kit on standby, with a more compact version that can be mobilized in case of evacuation. Both should contain emergency medications, copies of identity documents, food, water, and other essentials. “What you put in those ‘go bags’ are the items that really are essential to you,” Sue Anne Bell, a researcher and nurse practitioner who specializes in disaster response at the University of Michigan, told me.
But in talking with experts about disaster preparedness, I was surprised to find that recommendations on storing personal possessions in those bags are basically nonexistent. That necessities come first makes sense: These items can make a life-and-death difference in moments of crisis. But ever since members of my immediate family were displaced, I have started thinking about a third way to prepare for the uncertainty of extreme weather and the disasters that follow—what I like to call my “climate carry-on.”
This bag can now be found, zipped up and resting on a shelf in my bedroom closet, ready to be wheeled out if the need arises. In it, I have stashed away some of my most prized personal objects: photos of loved ones swaddled in pieces of clothing inherited from relatives who have died; a tarnished ring, priceless to me alone; a stack of journals teeming with childhood ramblings. All are relatively small physical mementos that I consider my most indispensable belongings. All are things that I’d like to one day be able to share with a family of my own.
Most of the advice about preparing for an extreme-weather-related calamity is extremely practical, for good reason. “First and foremost, we need to safeguard our lives,” Fernando Rivera, a professor at the University of Central Florida who studies the sociology of disasters, told me. Bracing for the realities of recovery—grabbing physical copies of identity, medical, employment, and financial documents to help with disaster assistance and insurance claims—comes second. But survivors of climate disasters can benefit from preserving other meaningful parts of their life too.
Bell told me that losing a home and certain possessions can affect a survivor’s well-being throughout the recovery process. In a small, qualitative study about supporting elderly patients through a disaster, the in-home caregivers she interviewed described the stress and personal devastation their patients experienced from those losses after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. “There’s a kind of trauma that comes along with knowing everything you’ve worked for in your life is something that you no longer have,” she said. That can affect “their larger health trajectory, as they’re trying to recover from a disaster in advancing age and feeling like they’re starting over.”
Although it varies person-by-person, life changes after disasters do cause grief that can manifest in health complications, Priscilla Dass-Brailsford, a psychologist and Georgetown University professor who studies the effects of trauma, told me. And if these hazards put someone in a state of chronic stress, they can lead to serious physical health problems, including cardiovascular dysfunctions and cancer. “Extreme trauma and loss from a disaster, that’s a given,” Dass-Brailsford said. In the immediate aftermath, a person’s focus is typically on physical safety and navigating any remaining threats; the interwoven mental- and physical-health effects usually come later. “Once that’s done, and you’re settled down a little bit, the enormity of what happens then strikes people,” she said—problems such as headaches and stomach issues can suddenly flare up terribly, as she’s seen in her own patients.
Losing personal property and, for those permanently displaced by a disaster, the place they live, can mean that survivors fare worse psychologically, according to Dass-Brailsford. She was a Hurricane Katrina first responder: “I remember walking through the rubble, looking at things that were lost during the storm, and wanting to pick things up and save them,” she said. She remembered thinking that “this is someone’s treasured object, and it was just now going to be sent to the dump.”
Some may balk at the suggestion of packing away belongings that they’d rather see every day. Precautions like this can seem unnecessary—and it’s easy to tell yourself you’d move quickly enough to save what matters in case of a crisis. But although we may feel we are ready for an unexpected disaster event, that perception can often be far from reality, Bell, the University of Michigan disaster-response researcher, told me. A 2021 study she led found that, even for the basic steps of all-hazards readiness—having a stocked emergency kit, having conversations with family or friends about evacuation plans—people believed they were more prepared than they actually were.
When measuring well-being after disaster or success in recovering, the focus is on quantifiable indicators, Sara McTarnaghan, a senior research associate at the Urban Institute who studies resilience planning and disaster recovery, told me. Disasters can put people in debt, or land them in the hospital. But, she said, hazard preparation shouldn’t just consider those tangible aspects of recovery. “As people, we’re often boiled down to those financial resources,” McTarnaghan said. When I asked her how people could better prepare for other types of loss they might experience, she stressed the importance of mental health, which climate-hazard-recovery processes tend to put less emphasis on. Reminding people that sentimental belongings—whether a photograph, a figurine, or an item of clothing—matter too could be a small stride toward helping them recover emotionally after a disaster.
Of course, the objects that would be most meaningful to save will differ from person to person. And that’s probably one reason it’s harder to find guidance about selecting and storing personal property ahead of a calamity, McTarnaghan said. Thinking about this question at all is a good first step. “I absolutely encourage the reflection of some of the more personal and sentimental pieces that also lead to loss for individuals,” she said.
Because searching for those items really isn’t what anyone should be doing in the rushed moments before evacuating, or as they start to shelter in place. No one should prioritize personal memorabilia over their own physical safety. Think of a climate carry-on as an optional supplement to a disaster kit and go bag. The latter two reflect the things we can’t live without; the first, the things we’d rather not.
Still, creating a climate carry-on isn’t a bad idea, Rivera, the UCF sociologist, said. He has thought, too, about the possibility of a communal repository, where things that matter to people could be stored and easily accessed year-round, further encouraging community-wide hazard resilience. “Individually, you never think that you’re going to be in that situation,” he said. But climate change is that much of a threat, becoming all the more real in our daily lives. Some of us will end up in that very position, forced to swiftly determine what we consider irreplaceable.
My dad never fathomed he would be displaced by a flood until he was watching the waters rising around him. “As the water increases, you have to, right away, rationalize what is important and take it from there,” he told me. If he could go back in time and pack a bag full of memories, he would stuff it with objects that are now lost: a collection of books he’d kept with him for decades and photo albums of his parents, his brother, and his sister, all of whom he’s lost. But of course, not everything can fit. He was thinking, too, of a rug worn down by multiple countries and moves, and a box of schoolwork and memorabilia handcrafted by my siblings and me.
“I saved a good amount,” he said. “But the rest of it? It’s gone. And you have no choice but to move on.”
Does Nikki Haleyreally have a shot at beating Donald Trump? Does any Republican?
On Monday afternoon, a basketball gym in Bluffton, South Carolina, was packed with people who had come to hear Haley’s latest sales pitch. Hundreds more were waiting outside. No Republican candidate besides Trump can reliably draw more than a thousand attendees, but about 2,500 showed up for Haley. (Granted, this speech was in Haley’s home state, where she formerly served as governor. Also, the gym was a stone’s throw from the Sun City retirement community, a place where, gently speaking, people may have had nothing better to do at 2 p.m. on a Monday.) One of Haley’s volunteers told me this weekday event had originally been booked at a nearby restaurant, but that, given the current excitement of the campaign, organizers pivoted to the gym, on the University of South Carolina at Beaufort campus. Everyone in Haley’s orbit is understandably riveted. She’s squarely challenging Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for second place in the Republican presidential primary, no matter how second that place may be.
While the former president still floats high above his dwindling field of competitors, Haley is the only person who keeps rising in the polls. Her climb is steady, not a blip. Haley’s campaign and super PAC are planning to spend $10 million on advertisements over the next eight weeks across Iowa and New Hampshire. On Tuesday, she received an endorsement from the Koch brothers’ network, Americans for Prosperity Action, and along with it an undisclosed amount of financial support. (It will be a lot.) But this year-end, all-in effort to stop Trump ignores the fact that he is a singular vortex, a once-in-a-century figure, a living martyr with a traveling Grateful Dead–like roadshow. His abhorrent behavior and legal woes do not matter. Three weeks ago, at his rally in South Florida, vendors told me that items with Trump’s mug shot are their biggest sellers. How does a mere generational figure, as her supporters hope Haley might be, compete with that?
Haley bounded up onstage in a light-blue blazer and jeans. “We’ve been through a lot together,” she told the crowd. She meandered back and forth—no lectern, no teleprompter. When you ask people what they like about her, many point to her presence, her poise. Haley delivers her stump speech in a singsong voice. A few words, a pause, a smile. Speaking to the Low Country crowd, she seemed to be thickening her southern accent and peppering in a few extra-emphatic finger points for good measure. She’s just a down-home, neighborly southerner whose most recent job happened to be in Manhattan, serving at the United Nations. The volunteer who had bragged to me about the venue change later pulled out his phone and showed me a photo of himself and Haley at a wedding reception. He pointed to her bare feet. She’s so real, he said.
Several women in the audience were wearing pink shirts with a Margaret Thatcher quote on the back: If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman. Sue Ruby, a 74-year-old attendee from nearby Savannah, Georgia, was wearing a WOMEN FOR NIKKI button on her sweater. “I feel like we’ve given men a lot of years to straighten our society out, and they haven’t done so great, so let’s try a woman,” she said. Ruby told me she’s a Republican who begrudgingly voted for Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden in the past two elections because she viewed Trump as a threat to democracy. A Sun City resident named Lorraine, age 79, told me that “it’s time for a woman,” but that she would nevertheless vote for Trump if he wins the nomination. “I don’t want to vote for the opposite,” she said, refusing to say Biden’s name. Carolyn Ballard, an 80-year-old woman from Hilton Head, South Carolina, told me she’s a lifelong Republican who voted for Trump twice, but that she believes he’s past his prime and that Haley is her candidate. “He just irritates people and he stirs up a lot of trouble,” she said of Trump. “Although he’s very smart, and he did a lot for the country. I mean, everybody was happy when he was president.”
Haley doesn’tlean as hard into gender dynamics as past female presidential candidates have. Nevertheless, she skillfully uses her womanhood and Indian heritage as setups for certain lines. “I have been underestimated in everything I’ve ever done,” she told the room. “And it’s a blessing, because it makes me scrappy. No one’s going to outwork me in this race. No one’s going to outsmart me in this race.” Or this: “Strong girls become strong women, and strong women become strong leaders,” which had a surprise left turn: “And none of that happens if we have biological boys playing in girls’ sports.” (Huge applause.)
Courting Never Trump voters, exhausted Trump voters, and, yes, even some likely Trump voters simultaneously is not an easy trick. She hardly ever criticizes her former boss. Here’s her most biting critique from Monday: “I believe President Trump was the right president at the right time … and I agree with a lot of his policies. But the truth is, rightly or wrongly, chaos follows him.” (Note the passivity; she won’t even say Trump catalyzes the chaos.) Having already served as his ambassador to the UN, she may be under consideration for vice president. Compared with his attacks on Ron DeSantis, Trump has gone relatively soft on her, opting for the mid-century misogynistic slight “birdbrain.” Like most of her competitors, Haley has said she would pardon him.
Whereas Trump has tacked authoritarian and apocalyptic, Haley has mostly kept her messaging grounded. At the rally, she bemoaned the price of groceries and gas. “Biden worries more about sagebrush lizards than he does about Americans being able to afford their energy,” she quipped. (She also called out her fellow Republicans for adding to the deficit.) She’s a military wife, and spoke about her husband’s PTSD and the persistent problem of homeless veterans. Though she lacks Trump’s innate knack for zingers, she landed one about how things might change if members of Congress got their health care through the VA: “It’ll be the best health care you’ve ever seen, guaranteed.”
Although many of her fellow Republicans have adopted a nativist view of the world, Haley waxes at length about America’s geopolitical role. (And subsequently gets tagged as a globalist.) “The world is literally on fire,” she said Monday. She affirmed her support for both Israel and Ukraine, and went long on the triple threat of Russia, China, and Iran, paying particular attention to China as a national-security issue. In doing so, knowingly or not, she began to sound quite Trumpy. “They’re already here. They’ve already infiltrated our country,” Haley said. “We’ve got to start looking at China the way they look at us.” She called for an end to normal trade relations with China until they stop “murdering” Americans with fentanyl. She chastened the audience with images of China’s 500 nuclear warheads and its rapidly expanding naval fleet. “Dictators are actually very transparent. They tell us exactly what they’re going to do,” she said.
Perhaps Haley’s biggest advantage right now is her relative youth. She’ll turn 52 three days before the New Hampshire primary. Trump has lately been making old-man gaffes, drawing comparisons to Biden, who was first elected to the Senate the year Haley was born. She speaks wistfully of “tomorrow,” of leaving certain things—unspecified baggage—in the past. “You have to go with a new generational leader,” Haley proclaimed. Onstage, she endorsed congressional term limits and the idea of mental-competency tests for public servants older than 75. The Senate, she joked, had become “the most privileged nursing home in the country.” Throwing shade at both Trump and Biden, she spoke of the need for leaders at “the top of their game.” Hundreds of gray-and-white-haired supporters before her nodded and murmured in approval.
Monday’s event took place roughly 90 miles south of Charleston, where, in 2015, Dylann Roof murdered nine Black parishioners at Emanuel AME Church, hoping to start a race war. At the time, Haley was governor of South Carolina, and Trump—who had descended the golden escalator and announced his candidacy for president just the day before—still seemed like a carnival act. Photos of Roof posing with a Confederate flag ricocheted across social media. Haley had the flag taken down from the South Carolina statehouse, a reversal from her earlier position on the flag. Five years later, after the murder of George Floyd, Haley tweeted that, “in order to heal,” Floyd’s death “needs to be personal and painful for everyone.” During Monday’s rally, though, she sounded much more like an old-school Republican: “America’s not racist; we’re blessed,” she said. “Our kids need to love America. They need to be saying the Pledge of Allegiance when they start school.”
As her audience grows, she continues to tiptoe along a very fine line: not MAGA, not anti-MAGA. In lieu of Trump-style airbrushed fireworks and bald eagles and Lee Greenwood, she’s going for something slightly classier (leaving the stage to Tom Petty’s “American Girl”) while still seizing every opportunity to own the libs. At the rally, she attacked the military’s gender-pronoun training and received substantial applause. “We’ve got to end this national self-loathing that’s taken over our country,” she said. Early in her speech, she promised that she would speak hard truths. As she approached her conclusion, one hard truth stuck out: “Republicans have lost the last seven out of eight popular votes for president. That is nothing to be proud of. We should want to win the majority of Americans.” It was the closest thing to a truly forward-thinking message that any serious Republican has offered this cycle.
In the most generous of interpretations, the race for the GOP nomination is now among three people: Haley, DeSantis, and Trump. Mike Pence is already out. Tim Scott, Haley’s fellow South Carolinian, dropped out two weeks ago. Vivek Ramaswamy, who has struggled to break out of single digits in the polls, recently rented an apartment in Des Moines and will almost certainly stay in the race through the Iowa caucuses. Ramaswamy has also unexpectedly become Haley’s punching bag: Her campaign said she pulled in $1 million in donations after calling him “scum” during the last debate.
At next week’s debate in Alabama, the stage will likely be winnowed to Ramaswamy, Haley, and DeSantis. (“When the stage gets smaller, our chances get bigger,” Haley told her rally crowd.) DeSantis seems to be betting his whole campaign on Iowa, and has secured the endorsement of Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds. This weekend, DeSantis will complete his 99-county tour of the state. Haley needs to beat DeSantis, but she also needs his voters if she has any serious shot of taking on Trump. If DeSantis drops out before Haley, his supporters are far more likely to flock to Trump. So maybe Haley needs a deus ex machina. In 2020, Biden’s campaign was viewed as all but cooked when, here in South Carolina, with the help of Representative Jim Clyburn, everything turned around, propelling him to Super Tuesday and the nomination.
Haley’s campaign declined to let her speak with me. A spokesperson, Olivia Perez-Cubas, instead emailed me the following statement: “Poll after poll show Nikki Haley is the best challenger to Donald Trump and Joe Biden. That’s why the largest conservative grassroots coalition in the country just got behind her. Nikki is second in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina and is the only candidate with the momentum to go the distance. Ron DeSantis has a short shelf life with his Iowa-or-bust strategy.”
As rally-goers made their way to the parking lot, I struck up conversation with a man in a T-shirt that read NOPE NOT AGAIN, with Trump’s hair and giant red necktie decorating the O. He wore a camouflage baseball hat with an American flag on the dome. The man, Mike Stevens, told me he was a 25-year Army veteran, and that he was disgusted with Trump.
“He’s a bully. He’s not good. He causes hate and discontent,” Stevens said. “I mean, he didn’t uphold the Constitution. And now we’ve had a judge say that. First time ever—no peaceful transfer of power? Even Al Gore did it. I’ve always been a Republican, but if it’s him and Biden, I’ll vote for Biden, I guess.”
He was excited about Haley, and had been texting his friends and family about her rally—trying to wean them off their Trump addiction. But he also told me he had written Haley a letter: He was dismayed by her promise to pardon Trump, and he needed her to know that.
“Anybody ever hear of Hannibal Lecter?” former President Donald Trump asked last night. “He was a nice fellow. But that’s what’s coming into our country right now.”
The leader of the Republican Party—and quite likely the 2024 GOP nominee—was on an extended rant about mental institutions, prisons, and, to use his phrase, “empty insane asylums.” Speaking to thousands of die-hard supporters at a rally in South Florida, Trump lamented that, under President Joe Biden, the United States has become “the dumping ground of the world.” That he had casually praised one of the most infamous psychopathic serial killers in cinema history was but an aside, brushed over and forgotten.
This was a dystopian, at times gothic speech. It droned on for nearly 90 minutes. Trump attacked the “liars and leeches” who have been “sucking the life and blood” out of the country. Those unnamed people were similar to, yet different from, the “rotten, corrupt, and tyrannical establishment” of Washington, D.C.—a place Trump famously despises, and to which he nonetheless longs to return.
His candidacy is rife with a foreboding sense of inevitability. Trump senses it; we all do. Those 91 charges across four separate indictments? Mere inconveniences. Palm trees swayed as the 45th president peered out at the masses from atop a giant stage erected near the end zone of Ted Hendricks Stadium in Hialeah. He ceremoniously accepted an endorsement from Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, his former press secretary. He basked in stadium-size adulation and yet still seemed sort of pissed off. He wants the whole thing to be over already. Eleven miles away, in downtown Miami, Trump’s remaining rivals were fighting for relevance at the November GOP primary debate. “I was watching these guys, and they’re not watchable,” Trump said. His son Donald Jr. referred to the neighboring event as “the dog-catcher debate.”
Though not a single vote has been cast in this election, Trump’s 44-point lead and refusal to participate in debates has made a mockery of the primary. And though many try to be, no other Republican is quite like Trump. No other candidate has legions of fans who will bake in the Florida sun for hours before gates open. No one else can draw enough people to even hold a rally this size, let alone spawn a traveling rally-adjacent road show, with a pop-up midway of vendors hawking T-shirts and buttons and ball caps and doormats and Christmas ornaments. Voters don’t fan themselves with cardboard cutouts of Chris Christie’s head.
Multiple merchandise vendors told me that the shirts featuring Trump’s mug shot have become their best sellers. Some other tees bore slogans: Ultra MAGA, Ultra MAGA and Proud, CANCEL ME, Trump Rallies Matter, 4 Time Indictment Champ, Super Duper Ultra MAGA, Fuck Biden. “Thank you and have a MAGA day!” one vendor called out with glee. As attendees poured into the stadium, some of the pre-rally songs were a little too on the nose: “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” “Jailhouse Rock.” Kids darted up and down the aisles between the white folding chairs, popping out to the snack bar for ice cream and popcorn. The comedian Roseanne Barr, who a few years ago was forced out of her eponymous show’s reboot after posting a racist tweet, took the stage early and thanked the MAGA faithful for welcoming her in. “You saved my life,” she said. Feet rumbled on the metal bleachers. People danced and embraced. In the hours before the night’s headliner, this felt less like a political event and more like a revival.
I saw the GOP operative Roger Stone and his small entourage saunter past the food trucks to modest applause. Onstage, Trump complimented Stone’s political acumen. (Stone, who is sort of the Forrest Gump of modern American politics, has played a role in seemingly every major scandal from Watergate to January 6, not to mention the Brooks Brothers riot that helped deliver Florida to George W. Bush in the 2000 election.)
That afternoon, seeking air-conditioning at a nearby Wendy’s, I met Kurt Jantz, who told me he’s been to more than 100 Trump rallies. Jantz had driven down to Hialeah from his home in Tampa. His pickup truck is massive, raised, and wrapped in Trump iconography. (He has an image of Trump as Rambo with a bald eagle perched on one shoulder, surrounded by a tank, a helicopter, the Statue of Liberty, and the White House, plus a background of exploding fireworks. That’s only one side of the truck.) Jantz has found a niche as a pro-MAGA rapper—he performs under the name Forgiato Blow. Tattoos cover much of his body, including a 1776 on the left side of his face. He rolled up his basketball shorts to show me Trump’s face tattooed on his right thigh. “Trump’s a boss. Trump’s a businessman. Trump has the cars. Trump has the females. Trump’s getting the money. He’s a damn near walking rapper to the life of a rapper, right? I want a Mar-a-Lago.” Jantz said he’s met and spoken with Trump “numerous times,” as recently as a couple of months ago at a GOP fundraiser. Trump, he said, was aware of the work Jantz was doing to spread the president’s message, not only through his music. “I mean, that truck itself could change a lot of people’s ways,” he said.
Though people travel great distances to experience Trump in the flesh—I spoke with one supporter who had come down from Michigan—many attendees at last night’s event were local. Dalia Julia Gomez, 61, has lived in Hialeah for decades. She told me she fled Cuba in 1993 and supports Trump because she believes he loves “the American tradition.” Hialeah is more than 90 percent Hispanic and overwhelmingly Republican. Onstage last night, Trump warned that “Democrats are turning the United States into Communist Cuba.” People booed. Some hooted. He quickly followed up, seemingly unsure of what to say next: “And you know, because we have a lot of great Cubans here!”
Trump won Florida in 2016 and 2020. His closest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, has just been endorsed by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, but has otherwise been struggling to connect with voters for months. Trump has already secured many key Florida endorsements, including from Senator Rick Scott. (Senator Marco Rubio has yet to endorse.)
The night was heavy on psychological projection. “We are here tonight to declare that Crooked Joe Biden’s banana republic ends on November 5, 2024,” Trump said. Later, he vowed to “start by exposing every last crime committed by Crooked Joe Biden. Because now that he indicted me, we’re allowed to look at him. But he did real bad things,” Trump said. “We will restore law and order to our communities. And I will direct a completely overhauled DOJ to investigate every Marxist prosecutor in America for their illegal, racist, and reverse enforcement of the law on day one.”
He seemed to tiptoe around the idea of January 6, though he did not mention the day, specifically. Instead, he said: “We inherit the legacy of generations of American patriots who gave their blood, sweat, and tears to defend our country and defend our freedom.” Earlier in the day, I spoke with Todd Gerhart, who was selling Trump-shaped bottles of honey, with a portion of the profits going to January 6 defendants (Give the “Donald” a Squeeze: $20). Gerhart lives in Charleston, South Carolina, and is among the vendors who follow the Trump show around the country. He told me that Mike Lindell, the MyPillow guy, is a fan of his product, as is General Michael Flynn. He introduced me to a woman from Tennessee named Sarah McAbee, whose husband, Ronald, was convicted on five felony charges related to January 6 and is currently awaiting sentencing. She told me she’s able to speak with him by phone once a day. Yesterday she informed him she was going to the Trump rally. “It’s a one-day-at-a-time sort of thing,” she said.
About 100 yards away, people were lining up to meet Donald Trump Jr., who was scheduled to sign copies of his father’s photography book, Our Journey Together. Junior smiled and scribbled as his fiancée, Kimberly Guilfoyle, snapped selfies with fans. Walking around yesterday afternoon, I heard a rumor: Not only had Trump already picked his next vice president, but there was no one it could conceivably be besides his loyal namesake, Don Jr.
A little while later, I saw Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, milling about. I asked him about this rumor explicitly. He gave me an inquisitive look. “President Trump’s not ready to announce his VP pick yet,” he said. “Can you even have someone from the same family? I know you can’t have two people from the same state. So that rules it out right there.”
Family remains a confounding part of the Trump story. His daughter Ivanka spent the day in Manhattan testifying in the case that could demolish what’s left of the family’s real-estate empire. Trump himself had taken the witness stand on Monday. The occasion seemed to still be weighing on him, and at the rally, yielded a microscopic moment of familial self-reflection. “Can you believe—my father and mother are looking down: ‘Son, how did that happen?’” (For this he did an impression of a parental voice.) He quickly pivoted. “‘We’re so proud of you, son,’” he said (in the voice again). It didn’t make much sense. He rambled his way to the end of the thought. “But every time I’m indicted, I consider it a great badge of honor, because I’m being indicted for you,” Trump told the crowd. “Thanks a lot, everybody.”
During my conversation with Miller, I asked him if the campaign had discussed the logistics—or practicalities—of Trump getting convicted and having to theoretically run the country from prison. “There’s nothing that the deep state can throw at us that we’re not going to be ready for,” he said. “We have a plane, we have a social-media following of over 100 million people. We have the greatest candidate that’s ever lived. There’s nothing they can do. Nothing is going to stop Donald Trump.”
What about something like a house arrest at Mar-a-Lago?
No one wants to appear before a judge as a criminal defendant. But court is a particularly inhospitable place for Donald Trump, who conceptualizes the value of truth only in terms of whether it is convenient to him. His approach to the world is paradigmatic of what the late philosopher Harry Frankfurt defined as bullshit: Trump doesn’t merely obscure the truth through strategic lies, but rather speaks “without any regard for how things really are.” This is at odds with the nature of law, a system carefully designed to evaluate arguments on the basis of something other than because I say so. The bullshitter is fundamentally, as Frankfurt writes, “trying to get away with something”—while law establishes meaning and imposes consequence.
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The upcoming trials of Trump—in Manhattan; Atlanta; South Florida; and Washington, D.C.—will not be the first time he encounters this dynamic. His claims of 2020 election fraud floundered before judges, resulting in a series of almost unmitigated losses. In one ruling that censured and fined a team of Trump-aligned lawyers who had pursued spurious fraud allegations, a federal judge in Michigan made the point bluntly. “While there are many arenas—including print, television, and social media—where protestations, conjecture, and speculation may be advanced,” she wrote, “such expressions are neither permitted nor welcomed in a court of law.”
But only now is Trump himself appearing as a criminal defendant, stripped of the authority and protections of the presidency, before judges with the power to impose a prison sentence. The very first paragraph of the Georgia indictment marks this shift in power. Contrary to everything that Trump has tried so desperately to prove, the indictment asserts that “Trump lost the United States presidential election held on November 3, 2020”—and then actively sought to subvert it.
Although Trump loves to file lawsuits against those who have supposedly wronged him, the courtroom has never been his home turf. Records from depositions over the years show him to be sullen and impatient while under oath, like a middle schooler stuck in detention. Timothy L. O’Brien, a journalist whom Trump unsuccessfully sued for libel in 2006, recalled in Bloomberg that his lawyers forced Trump to acknowledge that he had lied over the years about a range of topics. Trump has seemed similarly ill at ease during his arraignments. When the magistrate judge presiding over his arraignment in the January 6 case asked whether he understood that the conditions of his release required that he commit no more crimes, he assented almost in a whisper.
All of this has been a cause for celebration among Trump’s opponents—because the charges against him are warranted and arguably overdue, but also for a different reason. The next year of American politics will be a twin drama unlike anything the nation has seen before, played out in the courtroom and on the campaign trail, often at the same time. Among Democrats, the potential interplay of these storylines has produced a profound hope: Judicial power, they anticipate, may scuttle Trump’s chances of retaking the presidency, and finally solve the political problem of Donald Trump once and for all.
It has become conventional wisdom that nothing can hurt Trump’s standing in the polls. But his legal jeopardy could, in fact, have political consequences. At least some proportion of Republicans and independents are already paying attention to Trump’s courtroom travails, and reassessing their prior beliefs. A recent report by the political-science collaborative Bright Line Watch found that, following the Mar-a-Lago classified-documents indictment in June, the number of voters in each group who believed that Trump had committed a crime in his handling of classified information jumped by 10 percentage points or more (to 25 and 46 percent, respectively).
And despite Trump’s effort to frame January 6 as an expression of mass discontent by the American people, the insurrection has never been popular: Extremist candidates who ran on a platform of election denial in the 2022 midterms performed remarkably poorly in swing states. Ongoing criminal proceedings that remind Americans again and again of Trump’s culpability for the insurrection—among his other alleged crimes—seem unlikely to boost his popularity with persuadable voters. If he appears diminished or uncertain in court, even the enthusiasm of the MAGA faithful might conceivably wane.
Above all of this looms the possibility of a conviction before Election Day, which has no doubt inspired many Democratic fantasies. If Trump is found guilty of any of the crimes of which he now stands accused, a recent poll shows, almost half of Republicans say they would not cast their vote for him.
But that outcome is only one possibility, and it does not appear to be the most likely.
Americans who oppose Trump—and, more to the point, who wish he would disappear as a political force—have repeatedly sought saviors in legal institutions. The early Trump years saw the lionization of Special Counsel Robert Mueller as a white knight and (bewilderingly) a sex symbol. Later, public affection turned toward the unassuming civil servants who testified against Trump during his first impeachment, projecting an old-school devotion to the truth that contrasted with Trump’s gleeful cynicism. Today, Mueller’s successors—particularly Special Counsel Jack Smith and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is leading the Georgia prosecution—are the subjects of their own adoring memes and merchandise. One coffee mug available for purchase features Smith’s face and the text Somebody’s Gonna Get Jacked Up!
Perhaps this time will be different. With Trump out of office, Smith hasn’t been limited, as Mueller was, by the Justice Department’s internal guidance prohibiting the indictment of a sitting chief executive. Willis, a state prosecutor, operates outside the federal government’s constraints. And neither Bill Barr nor Republican senators can stand between Trump and a jury.
The indictments against Trump have unfolded in ascending order of moral and political importance. In April, the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, announced charges for Trump’s alleged involvement in a hush-money scheme that began in advance of the 2016 election. In June came Smith’s indictment of Trump in Florida, over the ex-president’s hoarding of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Two months later, the special counsel unveiled charges against Trump for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Willis’s indictment in Georgia quickly followed, employing the state’s racketeering statute to allege a widespread scheme to subvert the vote in favor of Trump. (He has pleaded not guilty in the first three cases and, as of this writing, was awaiting arraignment in Georgia. The Trump campaign released a statement calling the latest indictment “bogus.”)
But each case has its own set of complexities. The New York one is weighed down by a puzzling backstory—of charges considered, not pursued, and finally taken up after all—that leaves Bragg’s office open to accusations of a politically motivated prosecution. The indictment in Florida seems relatively open-and-shut as a factual matter, but difficult to prosecute because it involves classified documents not meant to be widely shared, along with a jury pool that is relatively sympathetic to Trump and a judge who has already contorted the law in Trump’s favor. In the January 6 case, based in Washington, D.C., the sheer singularity of the insurrection means that the legal theories marshaled by the special counsel’s office are untested. The sweeping scope of the Georgia indictment—which involves 19 defendants and 41 criminal counts—may lead to practical headaches and delays as the case proceeds.
Trump’s army of lawyers will be ready to kick up dust and frustrate each prosecution. As of July, a political-action committee affiliated with Trump had spent about $40 million on legal fees to defend him and his allies. The strategy is clear: delay. Trump has promised to file a motion to move the January 6 proceedings out of Washington, worked regularly to stretch out ordinary deadlines in that case, and tried (unsuccessfully) to move the New York case from state to federal court. The longer Trump can draw out the proceedings, the more likely he is to make it through the Republican primaries and the general election without being dragged down by a conviction. At that point, a victorious Trump could simply wait until his inauguration, then demand that the Justice Department scrap the federal cases against him. Even if a conviction happens before Americans go to the polls, Trump is almost certain to appeal, hoping to strand any verdict in purgatory as voters decide whom to support.
Currently, the court schedule is set to coincide with the 2024 Republican primaries. The Manhattan trial, for now, is scheduled to begin in March. In the Mar-a-Lago case, Judge Aileen Cannon has set a May trial date—though the proceedings will likely be pushed back. In the January 6 case, Smith has asked for a lightning-fast trial date just after New Year’s; in Georgia, Willis has requested a trial date in early March. But still, what little time is left before next November is rapidly slipping away. In all likelihood, voters will have to decide how to cast their ballot before the trials conclude.
The pileup of four trials in multiple jurisdictions would be chaotic even if the defendant were not a skillful demagogue running for president. There’s no formal process through which judges and prosecutors can coordinate parallel trials, and that confusion could lead to scheduling mishaps and dueling prosecutorial strategies that risk undercutting one another. For instance, if a witness is granted immunity to testify against Trump in one case, then charged by a different prosecutor in another, their testimony in the first case might be used against them in the second, and so they might be reluctant to talk.
In each of the jurisdictions, defendants are generally required to sit in court during trial, though judges might make exceptions. This entirely ordinary restriction will, to some, look politically motivated if Trump is not allowed to skip out for campaign rallies, though conversely, Trump’s absence might not sit well with jurors who themselves may wish to be elsewhere. All in all, it may be hard to shake the appearance of a traveling legal circus.
Attacking the people responsible for holding him to account is one of Trump’s specialties. Throughout the course of their respective investigations, Trump has smeared Bragg (who is Black) as an “animal,” Willis (who is also Black) as “racist,” and Smith as “deranged.” Just days after the January 6 case was assigned to Judge Tanya Chutkan, Trump was already complaining on his social-media site, Truth Social, that “THERE IS NO WAY I CAN GET A FAIR TRIAL” with Chutkan presiding (in the January 6 cases she has handled, she has evinced little sympathy for the rioters). Anything that goes wrong for Trump during the proceedings seems destined to be the subject of a late-night Truth Social post or a wrathful digression from the rally stage.
However damning the cases against Trump, they will matter to voters only if they hear accurate accounts of them from a trusted news source. Following each of Trump’s indictments to date, Fox News has run segment after segment on his persecution. A New York Times /Siena College poll released in July, after the first two indictments, found that zero percent of Trump’s loyal MAGA base—about 37 percent of Republicans—believes he committed serious federal crimes.
And beyond the MAGA core? A recent CBS News poll showed that 59 percent of Americans and 83 percent of self-described non-MAGA Republicans believe the investigations and indictments against Trump are, at least in part, attempts to stop him politically. Trump and his surrogates will take every opportunity to stoke that belief, and the effect of those efforts must be balanced against the hits Trump will take from being on trial. Recent poll numbers show Trump running very close to President Joe Biden even after multiple indictments—a fairly astonishing achievement for someone who is credibly accused of attempting a coup against the government that he’s now campaigning to lead.
The law can do a great deal. But the justice system is only one institution of many, and it can’t be fully separated from the broader ecosystem of cultural and political pathologies that brought the country to this situation in the first place.
After Robert Mueller chose not to press for an indictment of Trump on obstruction charges, because of Justice Department guidance on presidential immunity, the liberal and center-right commentariat soured on the special counsel, declaring him to have failed. If some Americans now expect Fani Willis or Jack Smith to disappear the problem of Donald Trump—and the authoritarian movement he leads—they will very likely be disappointed once again. Which wouldn’t matter so much if serial disappointment in legal institutions—he just keeps getting away with it—didn’t encourage despair, cynicism, and nihilism. These are exactly the sentiments that autocrats hope to engender. They would be particularly dangerous attitudes during a second Trump term, when public outrage will be needed to galvanize civil servants to resist abuses of power—and they must be resisted.
Trump’s trials are perhaps best seen as one part of a much larger legal landscape. The Justice Department’s prosecutions of rioters who attacked the Capitol on January 6 seem to have held extremist groups back from attempting other riots or acts of mass intimidation, even though Trump has called for protests as his indictments have rained down. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel recently announced criminal charges alleging that more than a dozen Republicans acted as “fake electors” in an effort to steal the 2020 election for Trump—and as a result, would-be accomplices in Trump’s further plots may be less inclined to risk their own freedom to help the candidate out. Likewise, some of those lawyers who worked to overturn the 2020 vote have now been indicted in Georgia and face potential disbarment—which could cause other attorneys to hold back from future schemes.
This is a vision of accountability as deterrence, achieved piece by piece. Even if Trump wins a second term, these efforts will complicate his drive for absolute authority. And no matter the political fallout, the criminal prosecutions of Trump are themselves inherently valuable. When Trump’s opponents declare that “no one is above the law,” they’re asserting a bedrock principle of American society, and the very act of doing so helps keep that principle alive.
None of this settles what may happen on Election Day, of course, or in the days that follow. But nor would a conviction. If a majority of voters in a handful of swing states decide they want to elect a president convicted of serious state and federal crimes, the courts can’t prevent them from doing so.
Such a result would lead to perhaps the most exaggerated disjunction yet between American law and politics: the matter of what to do with a felonious chief executive. If federal charges are the problem, Trump seems certain to try to grant himself a pardon—a move that would raise constitutional questions left unsettled since Watergate. In the case of state-level conviction, though, President Trump would have no such power. Could it be that he might end up serving his second term from a Georgia prison?
The question isn’t absurd, and yet there’s no obvious answer to how that would work in practice. The best way of dealing with such a problem is as maddeningly, impossibly straightforward as it always has been: Don’t elect this man in the first place.
This article appears in the October 2023 print edition with the headline “Trump on Trial.” When you buy a book using a link on this page, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic.
Nearly a foot of rain fell in a matter of hours in Fort Lauderdale — causing widespread flooding, the closure of the city’s airport, the shuttering of schools and the suspension of high-speed commuter rail service for the Broward County region.
The city of Fort Lauderdale released a statement Wednesday evening urging residents and visitors to stay off the roads until the water has subsided.
“Police and Fire Rescue continue to answer calls for service,” the statement said. “Public Works staff are clearing drains and operating pumps to mitigate the water as quickly as possible.”
Cars drive through a flooded street on April 12, 2023, in Dania Beach, Florida.
Getty Images
Broward County Public Schools, one of the largest school districts in the nation — and which serves nearly all of the Fort Lauderdale area — announced late Wednesday that all its schools would be closed Thursday.
Wednesday’s relentless showers prompted the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to suspend all arriving and departing flights beginning at around 4:15 p.m. Eastern time. Late Wednesday night, the airport tweeted that it would likely remain closed until at least noon on Thursday.
“The airport’s roadways are still closed and impacted by flooding,” the airport said in a statement.
#TravelAlert No. 5. Please note that #FLL is now expected to remain closed until at least noon (12PM) on Thursday, April 13, 2023. The entrance roadways are still closed until further notice. Roadway updates will be provided as more information is available… pic.twitter.com/tu02MavaeJ
— Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Int’l Airport (FLL) (@FLLFlyer) April 13, 2023
Up to 14 inches of rain had fallen across the area through Wednesday and the National Weather Service said another 2 to 4 inches were possible as a warm front continued to push northward, bringing a chance of thunderstorms.
More than 12,000 customers in Florida were without electricity Wednesday night, according to PowerOutage.us.
The heavy rains also prompted South Florida’s high-speed commuter rail service to shut down. Brightline posted on Twitter Wednesday evening that train service between Miami and Fort Lauderdale was suspended.
The National Weather Service in Miami declared a flash flood emergency around 8 p.m. Wednesday for Fort Lauderdale, along with the areas around Hollywood and Dania Beach. A short time later, forecasters issued a tornado warning for nearby Davie, Plantation and Lauderhill.
The service also issued a flash flood emergency for Fort Lauderdale and other areas will run into pre-dawn hours Thursday as the chance of thunderstorms continued across the region, warning: “This is a life-threatening situation. Seek higher ground now!”
to say the emergency will run into pre-dawn hours Thursday as the chance of thunderstorms continued across the region.
Video taken by witnesses showed water coming in the door at an airport terminal and a virtual river rushing down the tarmac between planes.
On Broward Boulevard, a man was seen swimming to the curb on the flooded street at rush hour as cars rolled by.
Drivers recorded themselves rolling through streets where brown, swirling water was up to the wheel wells or nearly to the hood of cars.
There have been no immediate reports of injuries or deaths.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., February 6, 2023 (Newswire.com)
– The Destination and Event Management Company ETHOS Event Collective has welcomed two new specialists to its Sales and Operations teams and celebrates the promotion of Kathleen Michael.
Erica Seidman, Senior Business Development
ETHOS Event Collective is excited to welcome Erica Seidman in the position of Senior Business Development, serving the South Florida destination. Erica will serve as the key link between sales staff, clients, and industry contacts for full-service fulfillment of DMC, event and consultation services with an emphasis on client goals and community development. Before joining ETHOS Event Collective, Erica was the Associate Director of Business Development at PRA Events Inc. for three years and National Sales Manager at JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa for two years, where she generated record-breaking revenue.
Although the art of sales is where Erica excels, she is also both passionate and successful in collaborating in the creative process and curating unique experiences. She prioritizes community engagement and giving back and plans to partner with Miami Bridge Youth & Family Services as a volunteer soccer coach as her passion project. Erica’s proven passion, strategy and influential ideas align with ETHOS’ reputation for thought leadership in the industry.
John Dillis, Director of Operations
As the Director of Operations for ETHOS Event Collective’s newest destination, Grand Cayman, John Dillis will be responsible for managing the Operations team and policies to ensure successful completion of services sold and ensure successful delivery of client objectives. John comes to ETHOS with over 25 years of experience, most recently as the Director of Events at the Westin Grand Cayman, and previously as Director of Operations at Koncept Events, USA.
In addition to being a leader for the Grand Cayman team, John is looking forward to blending the ETHOS Event Collective mission with the local culture in a way that enriches the lives of all. He prioritizes customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and revenue, with a proven track record of significant contribution to the growth of businesses and communities. John’s passion project is 100 Men Cayman, a nonprofit organization that gathers to help financially support different local charities each quarter.
Anne Laxson, Business Development
With over 20 years of experience in Destination Management, Anne Laxson is prepared to put Purposeful Planning front and center in the Central Florida community. As the newest addition to the Orlando sales team, Anne will be in search of opportunities for long-lasting, positive effects for the companies and clients serviced through events and community projects. Laxson brings extensive Central Florida knowledge and relationships from her earlier roles in the DMC industry.
When Anne is not connecting with clients and community, she is passionately sharing the impact her Passion Project, Soldier’s Angels, can have on the military community. This mission supports the military and Veteran community through each stage of military service and can be tied into events through team-building activities and building care packages for deployed soldiers or VA hospitals.
Kathleen Michael named Senior Experience + Design Manager
Kathleen Michael has been promoted to Senior Experience and Design Manager. In this new role, Michael will be responsible for training, development and mentorship of the team, along with development of creative and strategic offerings in client program design. She will develop and manage supplier relationships while building trust with clients in the ETHOS creative strategy, through delivery of fresh concepts that drive results.
Since first joining ETHOS in 2021, Kathleen has served on the Creative Team as an Experience and Design Manager. Specifically, she played a pivotal role in leading the department with product development by finding new and valuable partners within the market. According to Julie Addelman, Director of Experience + Design, “Her passion for purposeful design, coupled with demonstrable leadership and mentorship skills, have exceeded all expectations; we fully expect Kathleen will be an asset in the years to come, that will provide our clients with programming and creativity that prove ROI in meetings and events”.
About ETHOS Event Collective
In January of 2021, ETHOS Event Collective set out to do things differently; to be a company that creates ROI for their clients, hotel partners, suppliers, and communities; a company that connects their local businesses to their local charities; a company that knows the destination and not afraid to re-direct a client if needed so they can achieve their company goals and objectives when operating a meeting. At ETHOS Event Collective, they aspire to use business as a force for good and take a personal approach to their service and how they treat people. Their goal is to inspire and support those around them to improve their work and the communities in which they work. They call it Purposeful Planning, and it’s how they ensure results for both company and community long after a meeting or event has ended. To learn more, visit www.ETHOSEventCollective.com.
Ultra-high net worth real estate has long been full of hot shots, narcissists, and bravado.
In turn, unscripted reality shows like Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing” and Netflix’s “Selling Sunset” have minted ratings and superstars out of realtors and developers, many of whom were just scrapping to get a listing or a loan a few years earlier.
Luxury real estate is also rife with hyperbole: browse through most multi-million dollar listings in Miami, Manhattan, or Los Angeles, and you’d be tempted to believe that every kitchen is fit for a Michelin-starred “chef” and that each fixture and finish belongs in the Louvre.
Acqualina Resort & Residences Master’s-quality oceanfront lawns and red umbrellas are two of its … [+] signature design elements
Courtesy of Acqualina Resort & Residences
The North and South Towers of The Estates At Acqualina and Villa Acqualina in between are the Trump … [+] Group’s latest magnum opus in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida 30 minutes north of Miami
Courtesy of The Estates At Acqualina
Against this background, it wouldn’t be unreasonable therefore to think that the tagline for the recently completed Estates At Acqualina in Sunny Isles Beach—a.k.a “The World’s Finest Residences”—might whiff of a little aggrandizement.
If you’re familiar with Florida’s “other Trumps”, however, you’d also be totally wrong since hyperbole is not their style and perfection is what they do.
Acqualina Resort & Residences 25′ arched dome lobby evokes the grandeur and opulence of the world’s … [+] finest hotels
Courtesy of Acqualina Resort & Residences
Seventeen years ago in 2006, South African-born brothers, entrepreneurs, and real estate developers Jules and Eddie Trump, along with Jules’ wife Stephanie (none of them related to the former President), opened Acqualina Resort & Residences, spanning 4.5 oceanfront acres with 98 guest rooms, 188 residences, and award-winning restaurants and amenities all wrapped up within a 51-story tower fronted by 400’ of perfectly-manicured Atlantic Ocean beach 30-minutes north of Miami.
Acqualina Resort & Residences includes more than 1200′ feet of prime South Florida beachfront with … [+] four oceanfront pools
Courtesy of Acqualina Resort & Residences/Benjamin Edelstein
Acqualina’s uber-luxe oceanfront suites have unobstructed views stretching all the way to the … [+] Bahamas
Courtesy of Acqualina Resort & Residences/Troy Campbell
In the process, the Trumps succeeded in setting a new high bar for luxury real estate and hospitality in South Florida. More substantially, Acqualina also put Sunny Isles Beach on the map as the epicenter of Florida’s new “Riviera”.
Over the next few years, Acqualina quickly became one of the most coveted hotel reservations in the world (no hyperbole here). It’s earned Forbes Travel Guide’s Five Star and AAA’s Five Diamond Awards—both luxury hospitality gold standards—fourteen years in a row, and recently was ranked the #1 Best Destination Resort in America by USA Today.
As a result, if you call up to book a room at Acqualina on any date other than a Monday in August, you’ll likely to be met with a typical, perpetual refrain: “Sorry. We don’t have anything available for those days”—which, if you’re the Trumps, is a good problem to have when your starter rooms go for an average of $1,200 a night.
“Our initial vision with Acqualina was to build a family-run hotel that had all of the elements of the finest resorts in Saint-Tropez with the elegance of a great, historic city hotel,” says Jules Trump about their original vision for Acqualina and the gap they presciently saw in the market.
“Stephanie, Eddie, and I all felt back then that what was really missing in luxury hospitality were great amenities and creature comforts, particularly while spending the day on the beach, including everything from dining and drinks to exceptional service and spas. We wanted our guests to step into the exclusive world of Acqualina and feel as though their every wish and desire had been anticipated before they even had to ask for it.”
The four pillars of Acqualina are spread out along 1,200 of pristine, uninterrupted South Florida … [+] oceanfront. From left to right: The Mansions At Acqualina, Acqualina Resort & Residences, The Estates At Acqualina South Tower, Villa Acqualina, and The Estates At Acqualina Boutique North Tower
Courtesy of The Estates At Acqualina
Using Acqualina Resort’s success as a springboard, the Trumps opened The Mansions At Acqualina next door a decade later in 2015, which consisted of 79 private residences in an iconic 47-story building designed by Cohen Freedman Encinosa & Associates that’s still the tallest in Sunny Isles Beach at 643’.
Billed as Florida’s first “mansions in the sky”, The Mansions At Acqualina delivered on almost every detail, finish, and amenity that hadn’t previously been pushed in luxury real estate before. It also set a new standard for what the synergy of world-class design, art, architecture, and lifestyle on the beach could look like—something which every other South Florida developer is still trying to catch up and outduel each other on.
Not surprisingly, especially given their perfect timing well after the Great Recession, The Mansions At Acqualina fully sold out within months of launching sales, further solidifying the Trumps’ repute as one of the leading luxury real estate developers in the world—even if their legendary lack of presence in the press and shouting their success from their penthouse rooftops belies their more innately modest and humble side.
The Estates At Acqualina’s Boutique North Tower will begin moving its first residents in in spring … [+] 2023. A select few residences are available for re-sale in both towers ranging from $39 million to $85 million
Courtesy of The Estates At Acqualina
The Estates At Acqualina like the resort and The Mansions effortlessly blend contemporary … [+] architecture and design with old world European style
Courtesy of The Estates At Acqualina
Fast forward another six years to now and the Trumps’ newest development—The Estates At Acqualina, which brings to market 245 residences in two gleaming, glass waterfront towers this time on the north end of the resort—somehow manages to raise the luxury real estate bar again.
The Estates’ budget is part of that success, which at $1.8 billion makes it one of the most expensive new residential developments in America. This perfection-at-any-cost ethos ensured that no expense would be spared to surpass buyers’ expectations at every level, from the world-class architects, interior designers, and craftsmen behind the planning and construction down to every material, finish, and fixture and the bolts, screws, and rivets that hold it all together.
With a budget of $1.8 billion The Estates At Acqualina is one of the most expensive residential … [+] developments in America and also its most luxurious
Courtesy of The Estates At Acqualina
Jules, Eddie, and Stephanie Trump’s original vision for The Estates At Acqualina was to combine … [+] unparalleled art, architecture, and lifestyle with the finest amenities in the world
Courtesy of The Estates At Acqualina
The other driver of The Estates’ success has been clarity of vision—and equally importantly, the ability to execute on it, which not coincidentally has been one of the Trumps’ real estate hallmarks for more than four decades since they first developed Miami’s Williams Island back in the 1980s.
Since its origin moment, the Trump Group’s aspiration for The Estates at Acqualina was to create a luxury lifestyle that would set it apart from anything else in the world, and to design a building from the inside out within which those details, experiences, indulgences, and amenities could be brought to life in a way that would be effortless and osmotic.
“Perfection in anything isn’t easy to achieve,” says Jules, “But The Estates at Acqualina is quite simply that. After the incredibly successful opening of Acqualina Resort & Residences fifteen years ago, followed by the creation of The Mansions at Acqualina, The Estates go even further than we ever thought we could go. No expense was spared to design and build the two towers, everything is the best in its class, and our quality is incomparable in terms of the materials we’ve used including mosaics, marbles, and metals. The Estates are also a celebration of art, architecture, and lifestyle and a pursuit of perfection that you’ll see manifested everywhere, from the grand formal entrance to the signature integration of modern and classic architecture to the exemplary services that we offer to our residents.”
Acqualina’s indoor ice skating rink within the Circus Maximus
Courtesy of Acqualina Resort & Residences
The Estates At Acqualina’s private poolside cabanas
Courtesy of Acqualina Resort & Residences
The Estates At Acqualina include almost 6 acres of outdoor amenities and greenspace
Courtesy of Acqualina Resort & Residences
Not surprisingly—and with a little boost from the pandemic which sent 40 and 50-something, deep-pocketed buyers from New York in particular fleeing to Florida for larger floor plans and an upscale work-from-home lifestyle—both The Estates’ North and South Towers pre-sold out by mid-2021 within six months of launching sales.
The Estates’ amenities and exclusivity were a big part of that, in addition to the towers’ beachfront real estate and Florida’s tax advantages, says Jules, which helped to attract buyers with younger families who naturally gravitated to six acres of Masters-quality lawns, landscaping, and pools on the ocean, a quarter-mile of postcard beachfront, five restaurants, and over 45,000 SF of indoor and outdoor amenities within the Tuscan-styled Villa Acqualina connecting The Estates’ two towers.
Private bowling lanes are one of the dozens of family-centered amenity perks at The Estates At … [+] Acqualina
Courtesy of The Estates At Acqualina
The Wall Street Traders Club at The Estates At Acqualina was designed with buyers from New York City … [+] in mind
Courtesy of The Estates At Acqualina
The Estates At Acqualina’s night club in Villa Acqualina is designed so that parents are afforded as … [+] much fun as their children
Courtesy of The Estates At Acqualina
The entrace to The Estates At Acqualina’s world-class private spa and AcquaFit wellness and fitness … [+] sancutary
Courtesy of The Estates At Acqualina
“The Estates not only provides the world’s finest residences,” Jules tells me with a rare note of self-satisfaction, “But also the world’s most luxurious amenities for our residents, redefining the standard for sophisticated living. The Acqualina brand has always prided itself on putting our residents first, and Villa Acqualina is an unprecedented offering in a residential development, including a spa, an ice skating rink, bowling lanes, a movie theater, a kids club, a teen room, an amazing health and fitness sanctuary called Acquafit with a juice bar, salt room, and boxing gym, and a Wall Street Trader’s Club where residents will have access to ticker tape, computers, and a board room.”
Karl Lagerfeld’s exclusive lobbies are The Estates At Acqualina are his only residential commission … [+] in the U.S.
Courtesy of The Estates At Acqualina
Lobbies by Karl Lagerfeld are one of The Estates At Acqulina’s signature design elements
Courtesy of The Estates At Acqualina
If The Estates At Acqualina has a penultimate pièce de resistance, however, for Jules, Eddie, and Stephanie it’s the towers’ lobbies, both of which were designed by German designer Karl Lagerfeld, who was for decades was creative director for the French fashion house Chanel. The Estates’ lobbies are Lagerfeld’s only residential commission in the U.S. (Lagerfeld died in 2019), so they hold a special place for the Trumps given their reverence for world-class design and architecture.
“The Estates architecturally are purposefully a combination of contemporary elements and design merged with European Old World style that Eddie and I, along with my wife Stephanie, personally love,” says Jules. “We’ve found that our buyers love it too. So, when we committed to creating ‘The World’s Finest Residences’ at The Estates at Acqualina, we knew that had to be apparent from the minute our residents stepped through the door. Thus, the lobby design was a very important decision. Toward that end, it was an obvious choice to have our lobbies designed by one of the world’s most important designers: Karl Lagerfeld, the very master of modern creativity. We also take great pride in the fact that Karl chose Acqualina as his first residential project in the United States to bring his eye for opulence, luxury, design, and style to.”
Avra Miami is one of the city’s hottest new dining spots
Courtesy of The Estates At Acqualina
Avra Miami includes more than 12,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor oceanfront dining space
Courtesy of The Estates At Acqualina
On the culinary front, The Estates is no less world-class in its A-list, pursuit of perfection than its lobbies, architecture, and amenities.
Avra—the first expansion of the iconic New York City Greek restaurant—recently opened in Villa Acqualina in November 2022 to great fanfare and is now one of Miami’s hottest new dining spots.
“At The Estates, Avra has quickly become one of the biggest selling points,” says Jules. “It’s more than a $10 million venture—the restaurant is 12,000 square feet, including an al fresco dining area that overlooks the ocean. The design includes an infinity pool, a collection of contemporary art and a panoramic bar. The restaurant flies in fish from the Mediterranean every day and has its own network of fishermen and produces its own olive oil. Based on my numerous times dining at Avra in New York, dining there is an experience that transcends your typical meal out and creates a one-of-a-kind experience.”
The entrance into the two-story Casa D’ Oro priced at $39 million
Courtesy of The Estates At Acqualina
Casa D’ Oro features more than 11,000 square feet of living space in two-stories with direct beach … [+] access and a private pool
Courtesy of The Estates At Acqualina
The view in the morning from Casa D’ Oro’s master bedroom quite
Courtesy of The Estates At Acqualina
If everything about all of this sounds appealing, billionaire neighbors are your thing, and you have a few million to spare, a few residences at The Estates At Acqualina can still be yours via re-sale.
The first is Casa D’ Oro, a two-story, turn-key, single-family home in the South Tower that’s just re-hit the market for $39,000,000.
Furnished by Fendi Casa, Casa D’ Oro flips the script on the typical South Florida condo model which for decades has priced properties vertically—namely that the higher up you go the more expensive (and usually larger) units sell for per square foot.
Casa D’ Oro is the anti-penthouse, located on the South Tower’s ground floor right next to the Acqualina resort with direct beach access, a private pool, outdoor summer kitchen, a private elevator, a four-car garage, 11’ ceilings, and six bedrooms and 7 ½ baths spread out across 11,605 impeccably furnished square feet.
Every residence at The Estates At Acqualina features sweeping oceanfront views all the way to the … [+] Bahamas
Courtesy of The Estates At Acqualina
The second is an unfinished 15,000-square-foot, four-story residence located in the Boutique North Tower that’s now on the market for $85 million—which if it sells for anywhere near its asking price would be the most expensive condo ever sold in South Florida, besting the current record of $60 million hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin paid for his 12,500 square foot Faena House pad in Miami Beach in 2015.
Named Casa di Coba after its current owners Joshua and Jenni Coba—who made a fortune in haircare and are reselling the condo to take advantage of Miami’s still smoking hot real estate market—the residence has seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, six powder rooms, a private pool and four-car garage, its own elevator, a three-story spiral staircase, a 3,100 square foot guest house, and a private oceanfront cabana furnished by Fendi.
Acqualina Resort & Residences is the most award-winning oceanfront resort in the world 14 years in a … [+] row
Courtesy of Acqualina Resort & Residences
As for the Trumps next magnum opus after The Estates, Jules, Eddie, and Stephanie remain coy. But inertia isn’t their thing.
“We’re always looking at new opportunities and places where we can raise the bar again and build something that sets a new standard for luxury and lifestyle,” Eddie tells me with a wry smile. “Where and what that is, you’ll just have to wait and see.”
Judging from what he, his brother Jules, and Stephanie have done before, however, every other developer should be holding their breath as well.
Aerial Photography Panoramic Shot of the Downtown Miami from Key Biscayne.
getty
Office building owners have it tough nationwide, but in South Florida the migration of companies to the Sunshine State coupled with limited trophy office supply should send rents higher. Limited land for new beachfront projects in Miami-Dade County will propel developers north to Fort Lauderdale and vicinity. And the countries of origin acquiring South Florida real estate will continue diversifying beyond South America.
These are among many prognostications served up by South Florida-based real estate experts this month as they consider the impact of the pandemic-era boom in the South Florida real estate market and what it may signal for the post-pandemic years.
Trophy office
Vacancy rates on trophy office properties in South Florida will drop beneath 5%, predicts Tere Blanca, founder, chairman and CEO of Blanca Commercial Real Estate, Inc. That should trigger local rent growth to continue outpacing national rent growth.
“The demand from companies migrating to South Florida coupled with limited trophy office supply in the near future will push trophy office rents to levels seen only in select buildings across the United States,” Blanca asserts. But she adds the positive news must be leavened by the realization South Florida needs many units of affordable and workforce housing to establish a base for future growth across the region.
Population engine
Craig Studnicky, CEO of ISG World, says South Florida’s single-family home market in 2023 will look much like it has in 2022.
“The engine currently driving everything is population growth; Florida is one of the fastest-growing states in the U.S.,” Studnicky says, noting while newcomers want to buy now, pre-construction-phase condos are years away from being delivered. Hurricane Ian’s drain on labor will likely delay them even further.
“Despite rising mortgage rates, there is no way for [home] prices to come down; This is due to the population continuing to grow at a large, quick rate,” Studnicky says, noting it’s as simple as too many people vying for a limited supply of homes. However, a bit of relief may come to the tight rental market. There, the people who moved to Florida and rented for a while have now identified where they want to live and are exiting rentals.
Unused land
The Miami-Dade County supply of vacant parcels for new beachfront developments is severely constrained, says Bob Vail, president of Kolter Urban. That will force developers northward toward Fort Lauderdale and beyond in 2023. Developers in the Magic City and thereabouts must raze existing buildings to make way for new projects. But their counterparts farther north in places like Pompano Beach can start building on unused land, enabling them to deliver new properties sooner.
“Waterfront property will always be in demand in South Florida, and I expect buyers to gravitate north to take advantage of the construction timelines,” Vail prophesized.
In a similar vein, Michael Taylor, CEO and president of Current Builders, says he has noticed a substantial uptick in new developments throughout Lake Worth Beach, a waterfront hamlet nestled between West Palm Beach and Boca Raton. The city boasts a moderately lower cost of living vis-à-vis its neighbors to the north and south. But it is nonetheless centrally located, accounting for proliferation of projects, he says.
International arrivals
The global buyer market for South Florida real estate will very likely grow even more diverse in the year ahead. So says Christian Tupper, vice president of sales for PMG Residential. Miami has historically been viewed as a magnet for buyers from Central and South America. But, Tupper says, “The spread of residential buyers has expanded significantly over the past year to include smaller European markets such as Turkey. And [it even includes] an uptick in interest from Saudi Arabia and Dubai due to direct flights into Miami [that] commenced in 2021.
“We expect this trend to continue, further solidifying Miami’s position on the global stage as a highly desirable city for residents and businesses.”
The rising supercar rental service provides Miami locals, wandering travelers and business executives the chance to travel in style and luxury.
Press Release –
Nov 2, 2022 12:00 EDT
MIAMI, November 2, 2022 (Newswire.com)
– Clutch Exotics, a luxury car and yacht rental service, has officially begun offering exotic rental experiences for South Florida locals and visitors. Serving communities in Miami, Boca Raton, Aventura, Delray Beach and surrounding areas, Clutch Exotics specializes in providing its clients with the most luxurious vehicles and motorized toys in the Sunshine State.
Currently, Clutch Exotics offers a wide variety of luxury and exotic cars ranging from coupes, sedans and SUVs. With models from renowned brands such as Lamborghini, McLaren, Bentley, Mercedes, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Cadillac and BMW among others, Clutch Exotics’ customers never have to worry about a lack of selection when scanning through vehicle catalogs.
Clients can be picked up in or have their Clutch Exotic supercars delivered to the airport, hotel, or destination of their choice. Those seeking the VIP Clutch Exotics lifestyle can also take advantage of the Clutch Exotic chauffeur services. Clients can be driven in luxury by an experienced chauffeur, ensuring they arrive at their destination in style with every ride.
For those interested in enjoying unforgettable experiences at sea, Clutch Exotics offers an assortment of high-end yachts and watercraft. Book dream yachts that are perfect for parties, corporate events, and those spontaneous “just because” moments that can occur out of the blue. Clutch Exotics yachts sail from 40-foot to 120-foot long. “Sail with us today,” said Rob Kotelsky, founder and current CEO of Clutch Exotics.
At Clutch Exotics, our jet ski club offers 72 hours of luxurious jet ski use for a period of one year. Daily rentals are available as well.
“Our message to South Florida locals and visitors is ‘Dare to Dream with Clutch Exotics with unforgettable experiences,’” said Rob Kotelsky, the founder and current CEO of Clutch Exotics. “When our clients want to seize dream-like experiences through our selection of high-octane vehicles, yachts, and watercraft, we make sure we come in clutch to make those dreams a reality.”
To learn more about Clutch Exotics and the Clutch Club Exclusive Membership in which clients can drive a new supercar daily, please visit https://clutchexotics.com or call 305-744-5104.
About Clutch Exotics
Exotic cars and fabulous yachts are not just for the rich and famous. Clutch Exotics will change your perspective of what luxury really is with one of the models from a current selection, which includes sports models to luxury SUVs. Whether you’re looking in Miami or Aventura (or both), we have something that surely impresses even the most selective drivers as well as 5-star service with a crewed charter exclusive yachting experience.
We specialize in providing our clients with luxurious toys for their excitement while visiting the Sunshine State.
Explore the rest of our website to see all the services we have to offer to you. Get in touch with us today by either clicking our Book Now or simply by giving us a call or even our email. Our experienced staff is always here to answer any question of yours. “We come in Clutch” at Clutch Exotics.
TAMARAC, Fla., February 23, 2021 (Newswire.com)
– As part of a series of Black History Month events celebrating Black culture and history, the City of Tamarac is proud to share a live, virtual presentation by Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, a renowned African American scholar, journalist and activist at its February 26 Black History Month Celebration. Hill will deliver a keynote address virtually, while other elements of the event will be offered in-person.
An award-winning journalist, Dr. Hill is one of the leading intellectual voices in the country. He hosts BET News and the Coffee & Books podcast. He also serves as the Steve Charles Professor of Media, Cities and Solutions at Temple University. He has worked in solidarity with human rights movements around the world. Since his youth, Dr. Hill has been a social justice activist and organizer.
Dr. Hill’s presentation will be shared on a large screen at the event. Additionally, Tamarac’s Mayor and Commission will recognize and honor local community leaders during the event. Attendees will also enjoy live, in-person poetry by Rebecca “Butterfly” Vaughn, performances by Delou African Dance Ensemble and cultural art displays.
This free event starts at 6 p.m. and is being held at the Tamarac Sports Complex, 9901 NW 77th St.
In-person attendees must pre-register to reserve a 12×12-foot viewing space. Masks and social distancing are required.
For more information or to register, visit https://tamarac-bhm.eventbrite.com or call Tamarac’s Parks and Recreation Department at (954) 597-3620.
TAMARAC, Fla., July 30, 2020 (Newswire.com)
– The City of Tamarac is assisting local businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic with the “Tamarac Together: Support Local Business” campaign.
Launched by the City in partnership with the Tamarac North Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce, the economic development campaign encourages residents and businesses to buy goods and services from Tamarac-based businesses. This can be done safely when businesses and their patrons follow the guidelines set forth in local Emergency Orders, including facial coverings and social distancing.
“Our businesses, large and small, are doing their part to safely deliver goods and services. I see the efforts store owners and employees have put into making their businesses CDC compliant so that our residents and guests feel comfortable, safe and confident to shop in their stores,” said Tamarac Mayor Michelle J. Gomez. “Our local businesses are an integral part of our economy and community, and right now, many are struggling. We need to do our part to help them by buying local whenever possible so we can get through this together.”
“The Chamber looks forward to working in partnership with the City, to strengthen our economy and together help see our businesses through this trying time,” said Peter Mason, Executive Director of the Tamarac North Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce.
The campaign includes community-wide signage and an ongoing social media campaign featuring local small businesses and encouraging people to eat, shop and buy locally. It was announced in the City’s Tam-A-Gram newsmagazine, mailed to every household and business in the City. In addition, the City is providing local businesses with an information and resource guide and “Tamarac Together: Support Local Business” window decals to display.
“This campaign is part of an ongoing economic recovery effort from the pandemic; it’s so important that we come together as a community to help our small businesses get back up and running as soon and as safely as possible,” said Tamarac Economic Development Manager Lori Funderwhite. “We can also help save our economy by socially distancing and wearing face coverings to stop the spread.”
The “Tamarac Together: Support Local Business” campaign was launched in concert with the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance “Supporters of Broward” campaign to not only encourage individuals to buy local but to encourage companies and organizations to reroute spending to local firms and to engage Broward County certified small businesses as new sources for goods and services.
To further assist our small businesses, the City enacted COVID-19 business assistance emergency provisions to temporarily allow additional commercial signage and outdoor seating at restaurants and to ease restrictions on established Tamarac businesses using food trucks during the pandemic. Businesses must apply to take advantage of these provisions; the form is available at www.Tamarac.org/368/Planning-and-Zoning.
Supporting local businesses through the pandemic will remain a priority in the days and months ahead. Additional business assistance programs will be forthcoming.
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.jpg "A crash on the MacArthur Causeway led to major traffic tie-ups in the Monday morning rush hour.")
