Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago last sold in 1995, no recent sale to son | Fact check

The claim: Trump sold Mar-a-Lago to his oldest son

An Aug. 25 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) claims former President Donald Trump sold one of his estates to a family member.

“Trump sold Mar-a-Lago to his oldest son,” read the post.

It received nearly 50 shares and more than 300 comments in five days.

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Our rating: False

The property was listed for sale on the real estate website Zillow, but the company said the information was incorrect and has since been updated. Trump’s eldest sons said the claim is false.

Property last sold in 1995, when Trump turned it into a private club

Mar-a-Lago is a 5,061-square-foot estate in Palm Beach, Florida, that Trump purchased in 1985. A listing on Zillow claimed the property was sold on Aug. 4 for $422 million.

Various news outlets reported on the supposed sale, but Zillow later said the information was false.

“Zillow strives for accuracy on our site, and if we become aware of inaccurate information, we will update it immediately,” said spokesperson Will Lemke. “After an investigation, it appears that the information provided was incorrect. We have corrected the information on this property.”

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The company gave similar statements to Newsweek and Palm Beach Daily News. The latter outlet, which is based in the same city as Mar-a-Lago, found no public records indicating there was a recent sale or transfer of the property.

Information seen on Zillow listings is pulled from a variety of data sources including public records, sales transactions and listing services, Lemke said.

Eric Trump described claims of a sale as “fake news” and said the property “has not been sold or transferred in any regard” in an Aug. 25 post on X, formerly Twitter.

Donald Trump Jr., the former president’s eldest son, also responded on X to the viral claim by saying, “FAKE NEWS GONNA FAKE NEWS!!!”

As of Aug. 31, the property’s Zillow listing showed it was not on the market and was last sold in April 1995. That’s when Trump converted the estate from a private residence to the Mar-a-Lago Club, according to the property’s website.

USA TODAY has previously debunked various false claims about Mar-a-Lago, including that Donald Trump Jr. urged supporters not to visit the property, that a leaked call between the FBI and President Joe Biden proved the Mar-a-Lago search was unlawful and that Biden ordered the FBI search in August 2022.

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Our fact-check sources:

• Will Lemke, Aug. 30, Email exchange with USA TODAY

• Palm Beach Daily News, Aug. 28, Oops! Eric Trump denies Mar-a-Lago sold for $422 million; Zillow admits listing error 

• Donald Trump, Jr., Aug. 25, X post 

• Eric Trump, Aug. 25, X post 

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim Trump sold Florida estate to family member | Fact check