*US President Donald Trump plans to fly to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida January 20, but sources disclose some Palm Beach residents don’t want him as permanent neighbour in the area

*Those who might have been sympathetic to defending the President … don’t necessarily want to defend what he’s done here ─both because they aren’t easy to defend and they’ll tarnish people’s professional reputation down the road ─Keith Whittington, a Professor of Politics at Princeton University

Gbenga Kayode | ConsumerConnect

Despite an initial uncertainty surrounding where outgoing and embattled United States President Donald Trump, who was impeached for the unprecedented second time by the House of Representatives, will live after the White House, he plans to fly to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in the morning of Joe Biden’s inauguration, close sources said.

The resort will as well play host to several current White House staff, who are expected to work for him or Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, after his controversial Presidency, agency report stated.

Though Trump intends to live at the Palm Beach resort, some of his future neighbours are trying to stop him from taking up permanent residence in the area, according the people familiar with the matter.

A lawyer representing several of Trump’s neighbours has demanded that Palm Beach declare that the outgoing President cannot live at Mar-a-Lago.

The attorney reportedly cited an agreement Trump made with the city in the early 1990s when he converted the property from a private residence to a private club, according to the Washington Post.

Hitherto, report had indicated that there was uncertainty in the White House about where Trump would go after his presidency.

Aides had also assumed Mar-a-Lago, but the President himself hadn’t told them his plans or said publicly what he’ll do after leaving the White House, sources said.

It was gathered that Trump’s staff have begun to vacate the White House.

A photographer for Reuters snapped the President’s trade adviser, Peter Navarro, Wednesday, January 13, carrying a large, framed photograph of one of Trump’s meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping out of the White House.

Photographers also saw Meadows’s wife, Debbie Meadows, packing a stuffed pheasant into the trunk of a car along with boxes, report stated.

The White House

Trump aides who may work for him after the White House include Nick Luna, the Director of Oval Office Operations and Trump’s “body man”; Molly Michael, a Deputy Assistant to Trump; and Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, report stated.

Luna’s wife, Cassidy Luna, a deputy assistant to the President, may work for Kushner, said the people who preferred not to be named because he hasn’t made them public and might change his mind.

Meanwhile, following some speculation among aides that he might leave earlier, Trump now plans to depart Washington, D.C. for Florida morning on January 20.

It is recalled that the President January 8 announced he would not attend President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, after his false claims that the election was stolen from him inspired a bloody riot by his supporters and ‘lawless extremists’ at the US Capitol.

It was his last tweet before Twitter permanently suspended his account over concerns he could use it to spark more violence.

Vice-President Mike Pence, who was said to have angered Trump by refusing to do his bidding to overturn the presidential election results, was furious with the President following the domestic terror, will attend Biden’s inauguration, according to report.

ConsumerConnect reports US Presidents are ‘not constitutionally required to attend’ the inaugurations of their successors, but they traditionally do so to symbolise the significance of transferring power peacefully.

Meanwhile,

Struggling to get lawyers as impeachment trial approaches

Meanwhile, President Trump, on the eve of facing a historic second impeachment trial for inciting the insurrection at the US Capitol recently, is having trouble assembling a legal team to defend him.

It was learnt that allies of the outgoing president have been canvassing Washington’s legal landscape looking for representation but so far are coming up short.

Lawyers who defended him in the previous impeachment trial, including Jay Sekulow and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, have said no this time, report stated.

Other lawyers who have defended Trump at times, including former Florida Attorney-General Pam Bondi, Eric Herschmann, Pat Philbin and Marc Kasowitz aren’t interested in joining a team this time, the people said.

Some of the lawyers who don’t want a role have privately said what Trump did was indefensible.

Worse still, a number of prominent law firms have reportedly refused to engage in any legal representation involving the President’s actions following the November 3 presidential election.

Keith Whittington, a professor of Politics at Princeton University, said: “I’m not terribly surprised that top tier conservative attorneys who a Republican president might normally turn to would not be interested in jumping on this particular grenade.

“Those who might have been sympathetic to defending the president in other contexts such as his first impeachment don’t necessarily want to defend what he’s done here — both because they aren’t easy to defend and they’ll tarnish people’s professional reputation down the road.”

Now, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has some discretion on when she sends the impeachment article to the Senate, which Republican leader Mitch McConnell made clear won’t reconvene until Jan. 19.

That means a trial can begin at the earliest the following day, when President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated next Wednesday.