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Covid-19: Trump Defends Decision To Furlough Employees, Including At Mar-a-lago

President Donald Trump was on the defensive after his company decided to furlough hundreds of employees due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.

Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

This week, it was revealed that Trump’s company was temporarily laying off at least 153 employees at his favorite weekend getaway golf spot, the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, prompting the commander-in-chief to defend the action.

Mar-a-Lago employees weren’t the only casualties, as hundreds of other employees at the Trump National Doral Miami resort were also laid off amid the pandemic.

At the White House, Trump said, “you can’t have many hundreds of employees standing around doing nothing,” adding that local social distancing prohibitions have closed clubs, hotels, and golf courses. “There’s no customer. You’re not allowed to have a customer.”

According to Mar-a-Lago officials, they began halting business last month due to mandated closures of non-essential businesses in Florida.

The furloughs of all Trump employees - which include bartenders, cooks, dishwashers, drivers, attendants, housekeepers, servers, and valet attendants - are temporary, but no date has been provided as to when business might begin to pick up.

According to Forbes, the 153 employees on furlough include 32 servers, 19 valet attendants, 11 dishwashers, 1 aesthetician, an executive assistant, and the director of tennis.

“Based on the fluid and rapidly evolving nature of this situation…we are unable to provide a specific date at which we will be able to recommence regular club operations and return affected employees to work,” the resort’s human resources director wrote in a notice filed to Florida state officials.

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