Donald Trump in Palm Beach, Florida: ‘My name means a lot…I’m...

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Before he was a brash outsider challenging the establishment and shaking up the 2016 Republican presidential race, Donald Trump caused similar pearl-clutching among the old guard in Palm Beach, Florida.

Trump rubbed plenty of folks the wrong way when he bought Mar-a-Lago in 1985, proposed carving it into eight “Mansions at Mar-a-Lago” and then settled on the idea of turning the landmark into a private club.

“A lot of people like to think Palm Beach is a little more genteel and old money. This is a new-money idea at an old-money location,” one socialite said in 1994.

But the Mar-a-Lago Club — and Trump — have become institutions in Palm Beach.

Could Trump follow his Palm Beach model to the Republican nomination and the White House?

ExploreClick here to read about Trump’s history in Palm Beach — and what The Donald himself thinks about possible presidential parallel.

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