Protesters use Easter visit for tax return push

Hundreds of protesters marched from West Palm Beach toward President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate Saturday afternoon, renewing the call for him to release his tax records.

While Trump was at a nearby golf club, protesters used Tuesday’s deadline for filing federal taxes as a reminder that the president has yet to disclose more about how much he has paid in taxes through the years.

“Here is somebody that is proposing tax changes, and we don’t know if those changes will personally benefit him or his friends or his family,” said Bruce Brown, 59, of Lake Worth. “That’s almost (the) definition of corruption.”

The crowd, estimated at nearly 700 people by West Palm Beach police, was one of the largest local antiTrump protests since he took office. Police said there were no arrests during the demonstration.

Protesters — chanting “Dump Trump” and waving signs that asked, “What are you hiding?” — marched about 3 miles along Flagler Drive and over the Southern Boulevard bridge to Bingham Island, within view of Mara-Lago.

About a dozen Trump supporters gathered at the corner of Flagler and Southern waving signs and flags in support of the president. Others drove along Flagler Drive honking and waving pro-Trump signs.

“I haven’t marched since Vietnam,” protester Marshall Brass, 70, of West Palm Beach said. “This one moved me. ... We have a disgraceful man sitting in the White House.”

The Town of Palm Beach Police Department had blocked off parking on Bingham Island, a favorite gathering spot for Trump protesters and supporters alike near Mar-a-Lago. That left demonstrators with long walks back to their cars in West Palm Beach.

Trump has faced criticism since the campaign for failing to release his tax returns, as his predecessors had, which would show more about his financial history.

With ongoing federal investigations into Russian influence on the presidential election, protesters say there is an even greater need for the public to know more about Trump’s tax history.

“It will show us what his (financial) history is, who he owes money to,” said Joyce Brown, 73, of Lake Worth. “Whether he is as corrupt as we think he is.”

Trump’s taxes may have been the focus of Saturday’s demonstration, but protesters also sounded off about everything from the president’s push to build a border wall to his past derogatory comments about women.

“People feel they need a voice,” said Don Pray, 69, of Jupiter.

Trump’s motorcade bypassed Southern Boulevard, and the signwaving, chanting protesters, as the president traveled from Trump International Golf Club to Mar-a-Lago, arriving at 1:50 p.m.

This is Trump’s seventh trip to Palm Beach since his inauguration.

The president arrived Thursday evening in Palm Beach for a four-day, Easter holiday visit to Mar-a-Lago.

By Friday morning he was at his namesake golf course, where he stayed for about four hours. Trump

returned to the private club just before 9 a.m. Saturday and stayed about 4 hours.

The amount of time Trump spends on golf courses during his taxpayer-funded travel is gaining more scrutiny from his critics.

Before this trip, Trump as president had already spent more than 63 hours at golf clubs, according to the Associated Press.

On Friday, the conservative government watchdog group Judicial Watch questioned the cost to taxpayers of Trump’s golf-related travel. Organization president Tom Fitton, who has also criticized President Barack Obama’s golf trips, called for Trump to “be sensitive” to the taxpayer costs that come from his travel.

“He has a right to golf, but the ... concern is the cost of travel,” Fitton said.

The White House hadn’t clarified Saturday afternoon whether Trump actually played golf during his golf club visits during this trip to Palm Beach.

Trump and his supporters have said that presidential work is getting done during his trips to Palm Beach, including the golf outings.

Trump holds meetings and hosts other world leaders at Mar-a-Lago. He golfed with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during their February trip to Palm Beach.

“He puts himself full time into the (presidency),” said Trump supporter John Edwards, 66, of West Palm Beach. Edwards, who waited outside Trump International Golf Club on Saturday morning for the chance to wave at the president. “The media is trying to take it in a negative direction, but there are millions of supporters for this man.”

The White House by Saturday evening hadn’t announced details about Trump’s activities in Palm Beach this weekend.

Last year, Trump attended Easter services at The Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea in Palm Beach. That’s where he and the first lady, Melania Trump, were married in 2005.

Church representatives wouldn’t confirm whether they have been told that Trump will be attending one of their Sunday services. But they are already preparing for an influx of media on Sunday, and they are recommending that worshipers arrive early.

“For over 125 years, Bethesda has welcomed everyone who walks through our doors for worship: famous and unknown, rich and poor, liberal and conservative,” the Rev. James Harlan said in a statement released by the church. “We are confident that any possible security arrangements will not make attending our beautiful Easter worship services any more challenging for those attending.”