WASHINGTON (AP) – Former President Donald Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida club has been partially shut down due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
This is according to several people familiar with the situation, including a club member who received a phone call to inform them of the closure on Friday. A receptionist at the Mar-a-Lago club confirmed the news, saying it was closed until further notice, but declined to comment.
One person familiar with the club’s operations said that with great caution, they had “partially closed” a “section of the club” for a short period of time and had quarantined some of its workers.
People spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to discuss the situation on their behalf. The number of cases, which parts of the club were closed or how it affected the former first family were not immediately clear.
Representatives from Trump and the Florida Department of Health did not immediately respond to a phone call and sent an email Friday asking for comments.
Trump moved to Mar-a-Lago after leaving Washington in January and has since spent weeks going down, playing golf, dining with friends, meeting with Republican party leaders, and planning the his political future as he considers running again in 2024.
Trump was hospitalized with COVID last fall and has since been vaccinated against the virus.
Mar-a-Lago was the site of its first known exhibition more than a year ago. A senior Brazilian official tested positive last year after spending time at the Mar-a-Lago club, where he posed for a photo next to Trump and attended a family birthday party.
Trump’s White House was hit by several subsequent outbreaks after rejecting the virus’s precautions by resisting the use of masks and continuing to hold big events. ___
Spencer reported from Fort Lauderdale.