With his move from New York to Florida, President Donald Trump will live in a state where the political climate is warmer and the taxes are low.
But Democrats are determined to turn his personal gains into political capital, zeroing in specifically on the optics of the wealthy president doing whatever he can to avoid paying his share of the nation’s tax burden—an amount that is still a mystery due to the president’s refusal to release his tax returns.
Both the Democratic National Committee and the Florida Democratic Party plan to intensify their organizing and communication efforts to spotlight what they contend is yet another instance of corruption in the Trump administration. The DNC’s War Room will soon roll out targeted social media attacks with “hyper-localized” content specific to this issue, a source familiar with the plans said, while Democrats on the ground in Florida were on Friday morning already planning their own messaging to reach voters.
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“We will absolutely be utilizing this opportunity to make sure Floridaians get an even closer look at Trump,” David Bergstein, the Democratic National Committee’s Director of Battleground State Communications, told The Daily Beast. “The more voters in general, and that includes Floridians, get to see Trump the less they like him.”
Trump officially changed his primary residence from Manhattan to Palm Beach in late September, according to documents filed with the Palm Beach County Circuit Court, first reported by The New York Times on Thursday. Trump quickly confirmed the move online.
“1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the White House, is the place I have come to love and will stay for, hopefully, another 5 years as we MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, but my family and I will be making Palm Beach, Florida, our Permanent Residence,” Trump tweeted.
Florida is one of seven states that does not have a personal income tax and also requires no estate or inheritance tax. As such, it is known as something of a haven for wealthy individuals to flock to from New York.
“Taxes and energy costs are way too high,” Trump tweeted, in part, about New York.
In 2017, Trump signed into law a sweeping tax overhaul, the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” where he had a hand in making the state particular favorable for wealthy individuals and some of its largest corporations. According to a study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the richest 1 percent of Florida residents received 40 percent of the tax cuts.
“It’s pretty unheard of for a president to take a public move to avoid paying taxes. It’s insanity,” Kenneth Baer, a former Obama official from the Office of Management and Budget, told The Daily Beast.
“Any candidate who’s out there should be talking about it,” he added.
But aides to 2020 presidential campaigns said there are no immediate plans to use the president’s relocation against him. With the Iowa caucus just 93 days away, aides say they’re focused on the early state primary calendar, and not the president’s home or the general election.
In 2016, Trump won Florida with less than 1 percent of the state, securing 29 electoral votes. In 2020, his team is placing a heightened target there, investing millions of dollars to pull off a second win. He still remains widely popular in concentrated areas across the state, including in the panhandle, but statewide his approval rating hovers just below 50 percent.
Democrats acknowledge this reality. At both the state and national levels, they stress they are not taking any state for granted—especially not the country’s biggest battleground. And the emotions are especially high on the ground, where Democrats say they are determined not to make the same mistakes as the last election.
“I like him coming down here,” Florida state Rep. Evan Jenne, a Democrat, told The Daily Beast. “We’re going to be able to use this to our advantage.”
With just over a year to go until Election Day, the Florida Democratic Party has raised $5.2 million in its effort to defeat Trump, with a team of 91 employees, the largest staff of any state party. The DNC works closely with the state party to “hold him accountable whenever he’s in the state,” a source directly familiar with the communications said.
State Sen. Janet Cruz, the former House Minority Leader, added that Democrats are “ready to send Donald Trump to his retirement home.”
“More than anyone, Floridians know a fraud when they see it,” Cruz said. “A change of address form doesn’t change the fact that his administration’s corruption and handouts to his wealthy benefactors have hurt America’s standing in the world and have left behind our working families.”
New York Democrats, for their part, made it clear there was no love lost.
“Good riddance. It’s not like @realDonaldTrump paid taxes here anyway,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo tweeted. “He’s all yours, Florida.”
