The following article by Colleen Shalby was posted on the Los Angeles Times website April 24, 2017:
President Trump’s oceanside Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida has gained considerable airtime and tweet time since Trump took office and dubbed it his winter White House.
It now has received official attention from the State Department.
The State Department’s “Share America” website, which shares “compelling stories and images that spark discussion and debate,” published a blog post about the compound ahead of Trump’s April 6 meeting there with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The post has since been deleted.
“We regret any misperception,” it reads.
The original post did not note the discussion and debate over whether the U.S. government should promote Trump’s privately owned club, which charges $200,000 to join.
The post described the history of the Palm Beach estate, which heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post donated to the U.S. government in her will in 1973 – 12 years before Trump purchased it.
At least one U.S. embassy, in London, shared the post online as well.
Washington Post reporter Abby Phillips noted the post Monday on Twitter, and Hillary Clinton’s former campaign spokesperson Josh Schwerin criticized it as inappropriate government promotion of Trump’s business interests.
Trump has visited Mar-a-Lago eight times since he took office in January. According to Politifact, each trip costs taxpayers millions of dollars.
Updated at 4:00 p.m. with information about deletion of post.
View the post here.