Inside Mar-a-Lago, the luxurious mansion where Trump will await Presidential Election result

Former President Donald Trump will be at his Florida base on Tuesday evening as he awaits news for the Presidential Election. Mar-a-Lago has long been his primary residence and he will host a series of dinner parties for friends, donors and supporters on Election Night 2024.

The 78-year-old has embarked upon a relentless campaign in recent months, zig-zagging the battleground states in a bid to turn out his vote. He now returns to Mar-a-Lago where the he holds parties, private events and fundraisers, as well as using it as a base for his political operations.

The 90,000 square-foot mansion was was built in the 1920s by Marjorie Merriweather Post, who owned General Foods. Located in West Palm Beach, Florida, the house was designed to be a vacation home, fittingly named for its location between the Atlantic Ocean (mar) and Lake Worth Lagoon (lago).

The 114-room mansion is built in a Spanish-Moorish design and boasts around 36,000 Spanish tiles dating back to the 15th century and a roof built with some 20,000 Cuban tiles. There is also around 200 square-meters of black and white marble taken from an ancient Cuban castle. The whole structure is anchored to a coral reef with concrete and steel supports to ensure that it can withstand hurricanes.

How much did Donald Trump pay for Mar-a-Lago?

The previous owner, Post, also hosted parties and events at the mansion but then donated it to the federal government in the hope that it would become a vacation home for future US presidents. Since no president had used it by 1981, the US government returned it to the Post Foundation. Four years later, Trump bought it fully furnished for less than $10 million.

Now, Mar-a-Lago operates as a private members club that provides for around 500 members, who each pay a $200,000 membership fee and an annual dues of $14,000. Members can take advantage of the on-site spa, gym, swimming pool, tennis court and private beach.

During his firs term as president, Trump used it to host world leaders like Xi Jinping and Viktor Orbán when they travelled to the United States on diplomatic missions.

It was also the site of an FBI raid in 2022 when Trump was found to have taken more than 100 classified documents from the White House. Presidents are required to hand over these documents to the National Archives when they leave office but Trump reportedly stored them at Mar-a-Lago.