There’s no denying the Trump family is rich. Sitting right at the helm is the real estate Tycoon-Turned-President of the United States, Donald Trump, whose entire brood enjoys their flashy and eye-popping expenses. Let’s take a peek at the ridiculously expensive things the Trump family owns.
The ‘Winter White House’
Housing mogul Donald Trump is so well known for his apparent knack for real estate that there’s even a video game based on his brand. Along with his penchant for buying properties, Trump loves playing host, too. What’s the best way to entertain?
In a space that boasts 126 rooms, of course. “And here’s the thing: it’ll give us so much extra space in our room to do activities! Please say yes!” Trump purchased the luxurious Mar-a-Lago, located in Palm Beach, Florida, for $10 million in 1985.
Built-in 1924 by cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, the 17-acre property has three bomb shelters, six tennis courts, a swimming pool, a 20,000 square foot ballroom, a spa, and a gym. The Trump family lived there for ten years before converting it into a private club, but with all those amenities, it’s no wonder Trump decided to keep a portion for himself and his family.
The forty-fifth president has even dubbed his holiday getaway “the Winter White House.” Having observed the wealthy homeowner, The Guardian reported in March 2019, “He comes out in the early evening, he walks around and he shakes hands with everybody.” Clearly, President Trump still adores acting like the ultimate host.
Melania’s expensive wardrobe
Melania Trump has a flair for fashion. The Slovenian-born former model actually pursued her career in Paris and Milan before arriving in New York. According to her 2016 GQ profile, it was in the Big Apple that she met her husband, telling the magazine: “I didn’t know much about Donald Trump. I had my life, I had my world. I didn’t follow Donald Trump and what kind of life he had.” The rest, as they say, however, was history.
From the moment she walked down the aisle in an elaborate dress estimated to be worth $100,000, the world knew Melania had expensive taste. Now, as First Lady, and with more cameras on her than ever, she makes sure she’s always decked out in the most stylish of frocks.
But there was one ensemble that left the public in complete shock, a very colorful floral applique jacket by Dolce and Gabbana that cost a whopping $51,000. Melania wore the jacket for her first outing in Sicily at the end of May 2017, but caused an immediate public outcry since the price of the coat was, according to The Chicago Tribune, “several thousand dollars below the median U.S. income in 2015.”
True as this may be, it’s also worthwhile to note that the government does not actually give the first ladies an allowance for clothing. Whatever the case, the glam jacket was truly a sight to behold.
The boys’ hunting hobby
Eric and Donald Trump Junior came under fire back in 2012 when TMZ revealed they were avid safari hunters, publishing photos of the duo proudly showcasing their wildlife kills in Zimbabwe, including elephant, crocodile, civet cat, and waterbuck.
Of course, wildlife enthusiasts began protesting, even dragging Donald Trump down with his sons. Trump told TMZ, “My sons love hunting. They’re hunters and they’ve become good at it. I am not a believer in hunting and I’m surprised they like it.” We bet they didn’t pay for all the backlash, but the hobby itself is an expensive one.
The Associated Press reports that it can cost upwards of $50,000 to go on a safari hunt, not including airfare. After TMZ ran that story, Donald Junior actually defended his stance while, quote, “raring to talk” to Forbes, which ran a feature on the entire situation.
Refusing to apologize, the eldest of Donald’s sons explained, “Anyone who thinks hunters are just ‘bloodthirsty morons’ hasn’t looked into hunting, you’re sure to learn hunting isn’t about killing. Nature actually humbles you.” He then noted, “Hunting forces a person to endure, to truly get to know the wild environment. Actually, along the way, hunting and fishing make you fall in love with the natural world.” If you say so.
Trump Force One
It’s no secret that a status symbol among the high-class elite is owning a private jet. If you’re Donald Trump, however, you own a Boeing Seven-Fifty-Seven, a massive commercial plane. Even in his own book, The Art Of The Deal, Trump admitted, “It was a little more plane than I needed, but I find it hard to resist a good deal when the opportunity presents itself.”
The luxury jet was made in 1991, has been dubbed “The Trump Force One” by the boss himself, and has had extensive customizations to make it even more opulent. Wondering what makes it so special? Don’t worry, the Trump Organization made sure to boast about the remodeled interior in a YouTube video, starring none other than The Apprentice’s Amanda Miller According to The New York Times, a regular Seven-Fifty-Seven built in the Nineties has “roughly 200 seats”, which Trump promptly got rid of.
Instead, the jet seats 43 passengers, all secured with 24 karat gold-plated seats, of course. Along with being tricked out with an impressive dining room, master and guest bedrooms, shower, and big-screen TVs throughout, it’s no wonder this behemoth is the flashy tycoon’s fave.
Get to the gold chopper!
It wasn’t enough for Donald Trump to totally revamp his jet; he also did the same with a helicopter. It’s not his only chopper, either, as some may remember that the original intro of The Apprentice featured a black “TRUMP” copter. As for his custom, multi-million-dollar helicopter, Trump had some help making it the beast it is today.
According to an episode of CNBC’s Secret Lives of the Super Rich, the business mogul hired Eric Roth, the same man responsible for his Trump Force One, for the job. Roth explained to the show: “When I got a call from the owner, I hadn’t spoken to him in two years since we did his Boeing. He said, ‘Eric, can you come down? I want to meet with you, I’m buying a new helicopter and I want you to outfit it.’ I said, ‘Well, what does it look like?’ He said, ‘That’s why we’re meeting.'” According to the show, the helicopter is a Sikorsky, known as “the Bentley of helicopters.”
The cost to purchase a regular Sikorsky is between $5 million and $7 million, with an outdated interior. The solution? An entire, albeit pricey, makeover. Eric Roth claims that: “All the hardware for the seats is 24 karat gold-plated to match the rest of the gold plated throughout the aircraft.” The tab for the revamp? Almost one billion dollars. “Talk up. Up. You’re competing with a helicopter, John.”
Barron’s academics aren’t cheap
As the youngest of Donald Trump’s children, Barron Trump must, of course, have the finest education provided to him by way of his presidential father. While living in New York with his famous parents, Barron attended Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School, the same school which served famed Moby Dick writer, Herman Melville.
The school’s tuition? Almost $50,000 per year. After Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2017, Melania and Barron famously decided to stay in the Big Apple instead of moving to the White House so Barron could finish the school year. A source told The New York Post: “The campaign has been difficult for Barron, and [Melania] is really hoping to keep disruption to a minimum.”
Another source said of Melania: “She is really devoted to Barron.” Once the mother-son duo decided to make the move, Barron naturally had to change schools, too. At the time of this video, he’s currently attending the private St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Maryland.
Stating that she and Donald were very excited about Barron’s academic transition to this school, Melania told The Washington Post, “It is known for its diverse community and commitment to academic excellence.” As for the cost of his new school? Tuition fees are $40,000. “Damn!”
Ivanka’s ridiculously expensive art collection
Ivanka Trump definitely has a different taste in art than her father. While Donald Trump reportedly went incognito as a fake bidder to buy a portrait of himself, his daughter has more of a refined selection regarding what goes on her walls at home. Can you put a price on a cultivated art collection? Ivanka most certainly can.
In 2017, The Guardian revealed that the price tag for her hobby came in at $25 million! The art fanatic businesswoman is known to flex her collection on Instagram. But having your art collection on such a prominent display can bring out some haters, especially if you come from such a controversial family.
According to The Guardian, American painter Richard Prince actually disowned a piece which Ivanka bought, even returning his $36,000 fee and tweeting, “This is not my work. I did not make it. I deny. I denounce. This fake art.” Another artist, Alex Da Corte, decided to take a more direct approach, commenting on one of Ivanka’s Instagram posts: “Ivanka Trump, please get my work off of your walls. I am embarrassed to be seen with you.” Cringe.
Eric Trump’s expensive winery
If the price is right, Donald Trump buys, no matter what it is. According to The Washington Post, the former real estate mogul purchased a winery in Charlottesville, Virginia back in 2011. Trump revealed: “I’m really interested in good real estate, not so much in wine.
This place had a $28 million mortgage on it, and I bought it for $6.2 million. It’s a Trump deal!” “I do hundreds of deals. The deals come out of my ears. And they’re good deals. Most of them are phenomenal deals.” Perhaps it’s because he lacks an affinity for wine that he passed the winery on to his son, Eric.
The winery is reportedly a popular tourist destination, plays host to many weddings, and boasts 1,300 acres, including 200 acres of vines. But while the average Joe seems to enjoy the quality of the grapes, some wine aficionados are too busy scoffing.
When Vanity Fair sampled the Trump Winery label at the main restaurant of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., the magazine brought along an oenophile, too. The verdict? They dubbed it, quote, “Welch’s grape jelly with alcohol.” Ouch.
Don Jr. owns neighboring apartments
Why own one apartment when you could own two? In what seemed like a bizarre purchase, Donald Trump Junior owns two condos in Manhattan, right next door to one another. Even weirder? For a family that’s based their business on their own brand of real estate, he lives in a non-Trump building.
The building is called The Sovereign, and the businessman became the lucky owner of apartment Twelve B in 2014. The price tag? $1.5 million. As for the other unit, according to Town & Country, the adjacent Twelve C cost him $1.13 million. To be fair, the mag speculates that Trump may have combined the two apartments into one monster-sized one, because why else would you make a purchase like that? “That actually makes sense.”
You’d think he’d spend most of his time in his own apartments after dishing out so much money on them, but as it turns out, Trump’s been hopping around town to a different Manhattan flat. According to the Daily Mail, Trump’s girlfriend and former Fox News host, Kimberly Guilfoyle, revamped her $3.4 million pad in 2018 so it could house both herself and her beau, even giving him his own walk-in closet. Fancy.
All that glitters is Trump
According to Bloomberg, a reporter once spoke to Donald Trump’s proud father, Fred, who mused, quote, “Everything [Donald] touches seems to turn to gold.” While we’re not exactly sure if the president has an actual Midas touch, he sure does love buying gold any chance he gets.
One of the most visually opulent things Donald and wife Melania own is their $100 million New York penthouse. As reported by Travel & Leisure, the married pair’s Fifth Avenue apartment is entirely decorated in, “…24-karat gold and marble features in the style of Louis the Fourteenth.”
However, the sentence itself is an understatement, as the interior of this three-story penthouse looks like it was transported directly from 17th-century France. From its chandeliers and ornate artwork to its plush furnishings and gold trimmings on basically everything, the flat is practically dripping in money.
Donald told biographer Michael D’Antonio in a 2014 interview: “This is a very complex unit. If you look at the columns and the carvings. This unit was harder than building the building itself.” As his presidency has seen Trump spending most of his time in the White House, we wonder what is to become of this golden court fit for a king. For more such content, keep watching this space.
