Exclusive drone footage shot has revealed for the first time how Donald Trump’s $16.9million beachfront estate on the Caribbean island of St Martin was damaged by 225mph winds during Hurricane Irma.
Palm trees are seen lying broken and smashed throughout the property with one resting on the roof of the five-acre complex, which President Trump dubbed ‘one of the greatest mansions in the world’.
The opulent swimming pool and fountain are black with fetid water and the tiled roof of a gazebo can be seen collapsed on the wall of the estate.
The roofs, windows and walls of the extravagant 11-bedroom compound remain intact. In contrast, the neighbor’s luxury house was completely gutted by the hurricane and 95 per cent of buildings on the island suffered serious structural damage.
Paradise lost: Exclusive drone footage has revealed for the first time the fate of Donald Trump’s $16.9million beachfront mansion on the Caribbean island of St Martin, Le Château des Palmiers, which was ravaged by 225mph winds during Hurricane Irma
Blackened and broken: Donald Trump’s mansion suffered damage in Hurricane Irma with the swimming pool becoming contaminated and the fountain turning black with dirt
Before the storm: Le Château des Palmiers, pictured before the ravages of Hurricane Irma, is a huge beachfront estate featuring 11 bedrooms, nine of which are ensuite. There is also a fitness center, tennis court and billiards table
Collapsed: Images from Donald Trump’s St Martin estate showed how Hurricane Irma had ripped palm trees apart and left a gazebo roof dumped on the beach
Hurricane damage: Palm trees are seen lying broken and smashed throughout Donald Trump’s beachfront property on the Caribbean island of St Martin, with the trees ripped bare and strewn around the five-acre complex after Hurricane Irma hit
Paradise estate: Footage taken before the hurricane hit shows the stunning azure pool and carefully manicured gardens of the property Trump described as ‘the world’s best mansion’
The drone flew round the coast of Plum Bay, St Martin, disclosing the damage suffered by President Trump’s property in the worst storm ever to hit the Atlantic.
A dog was seen wandering in the grounds and a pickup truck and step-latter suggested that repair work was already taking place.
Some of the hurricane shutters that protected the windows at the front of the complex had been removed, while the back windows were still covered in wooden screens.
The eight-foot wall surrounding the compound did not show any sign of damage after the hurricane, which killed 10 people on the island last week and destroyed the homes of tens of thousands more.
The President has been trying to sell Le Château des Palmiers (Castle of the Palms), a luxury walled compound on the northwestern tip of St Martin, for five months. In July he dropped the price from $28million to $16.9million, a reduction of 40 per cent.
When the property was first put on the market it was the most expensive home on the island. Just before the hurricane it was in second place behind a nearby beachfront mansion priced at $17.5million by Sotheby’s.
Trees stripped bare: Donald Trump’s beachfront estate in St Martin in the Caribbean overlooks the stunning Plum Bay but has seen damage from Hurricane Irma
Shuttered: Staff took major precautions against Hurricane Irma, boarding up the windows of the 11-bedroom estate on St Martin, which overlooks the public beach of Plum Bay
Stunning site: The huge Trump holiday complex lies on the French side of the Caribbean island of St Martin, but its sensational grounds have been all but destroyed by Hurricane Irma
‘Lucky’ escape: The opulent swimming pool and fountain are black with fetid water and the tiled roof of a gazebo can be seen collapsed on the wall of the mansion, yet the roofs, windows and walls of the extravagant 11-bedroom villa remain intact unlike neighboring properties
Pictures of the interior on estate agents’ websites show that it is decorated in typical Trump style, with chandeliers, marble floors, and gold curtains, sofas and wallpaper.
Before Irma struck, Amanda Miller, a spokesperson for the Trump Organization, said: ‘All of the proper precautions and protections have been implemented and right now we are just praying.’
The President purchased the Château in 2013 and is thought to have paid up to $19.7million for the complex. He owns it through one of his many limited liability companies which have been run by his son and senior staff since he was elected American leader.
Close call: The roofs, windows and walls of the extravagant 11-bedroom villa, which Donald Trump has been trying to sell for five months, remain intact despite the violent hurricane which left 44 dead across the Caribbean
Trees destroyed: A drone flying round the coast of Plum Bay, St Martin, disclosed the damage suffered by President Trump’s property, Le Château des Palmiers (Castle of the Palms), a luxury walled compound on the northwestern tip of St Martin following Hurricane Irma
Property for sale: President Trump has been trying to sell the mansion, Le Château des Palmiers, for five months before Hurricane Irma hit. In July he dropped the price from $28million to $16.9million, a reduction of 40 per cent
Sprawling: Donald Trump’s 11-bedroom complex on the beachfront at Plum Bay features a swimming pool and fountain that have been damaged in Hurricane Irma, although his property escaped the more severe damage suffered by the neighboring house that lost its roof
Scene of devastation: The 11-bedroom Trump estate fared well compared to much of the rest of the island of St Martin/St Maarten, where boats were hurled inland and roofs were ripped off
Before the hurricane, ‘vacation of a lifetime’ packages at the property started at $6,000 per night and rose as much as $20,000 per night during the Christmas high season.
The fee includes a daily maid service, as well as a chef, a one-hole golf course and accommodation for up to 20 people.
Between January and April last year, the asset earned $1million for Trump, he declared in official filings.
The property has nine main guest bedrooms across two villas, as well as a two-bedroom manager’s area. The master villa has from a two-story bedroom featuring a Jacuzzi and two balconies. The smaller villa boasts a number of themed rooms, including a ‘Jungle Room’. There is also a fitness centre, tennis court and accommodation for staff on-site.
But the damage done to the Presidential complex is minimal by comparison to properties on other parts of the island, where hurricane Irma wreaked more havoc than has been seen for generations.
Terrible damage: Houses on the Dutch side of the island were destroyed in the storm (pictured), leaving much loved personal belongings strewn around like rubbish
Scavenger: Dogs hunted for food in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma as islanders tried to clean up the terrible damage on the Dutch side of the Caribbean territory that was hit by 225mph winds
Devastated: Luxury holiday homes throughout the island of St Maarten/St Martin suffered damage in the hurricane, with palm trees uprooted
Chaos: Pictures from homes throughout the tiny Caribbean island show the extent of the damage, with furniture tossed around like matchsticks and trees snapped in half
Thousands of homes across the island were flattened, while luxury yachts moored in marinas were sunk or driven on shore by the hurricane-force winds.
Locals have had to queue for basic aid and even water as the island’s infrastructure has been utterly destroyed by the hurricane.
Others have been forced to arm themselves to protect their property as widespread looting has been reported.
MailOnline was among the first to reach the stricken island, travelling 100miles from Antigua by speedboat because the airport was destroyed.
The drone exposed the scale of the carnage, with top-of-the-range pleasure boats flung onto dry land or piled on top of each other by the wind.
Relief effort: President Donald Trump flew to hurricane-devastated Florida on September 14 to view recovery efforts and meet with residents who had their lives upended by Hurricane Irma. Now it is revealed that he is affected too
First lady Melania Trump came under fire in August when she was spotted in a pair of heels while on her first visit to Harvey victims in Texas, left, then followed it with snakeskin heels four days later
Entire houses had been destroyed. Thousands of people could be seen stuck in traffic jams as they desperately tried to secure for basic necessities before the three o’clock curfew.
We found half-empty supermarkets filled with stinking pools of fetid water, the broken fridges holding meat crawling with maggots. Families were living on cornflakes and meagre aid handouts from the military.
Looting and lawlessness has wreaked havoc on the island, with gun-toting gangs marauding through the smashed streets and robbing people of what little they have left.
The island, which is 1,200 miles south east of Miami, Florida is split between the French section on the north, which is called St Martin and the Dutch administered area on the south, named St Maarten.
Escaped the worst: While Donald Trump’s property saw palm trees ripped up, the roof of the exclusive property remained intact
Badly hit: While Donald Trump’s house lost palm trees and saw damage to the swimming pool in the hurricane, the neighboring house appeared to be worse hift with the roof ripped off
Stomach churning: On the Dutch side of the island even the supermarkets were thrown into chaos as goods and food were flung around then targeted by looters. The food that wasn’t stolen was rotting.
St Maarten/St Martin, which is split between French and Dutch governance, is famous for its Princess Juliana International Airport because arriving aircraft pass at low level above the Maho beach. Thrillseekers often stand behind the runaway and get blasted by the jet wash of aircraft preparing to take off.
The Dutch and French armies deployed soldiers onto the streets in a desperate attempt to maintain order and enforce the curfew. On Thursday, police promised ‘quick and swift punishment’ for looters, arresting eight people for remaining on the streets after 3pm and other offences, including the possession of drugs.
Motorists are forced to queue for more than six hours at petrol stations, making the theft of petrol has become a scourge of ordinary people trying to rebuild their lives.
The President of the United States is far from the only famous face to suffer at the hands of Hurricane Irma.
The damage to Richard Branson’s private island was severe.
Speaking via satellite phone for a blog post on his website, the Virgin magnate said the property was ‘completely and utterly devastated’, with trees and buildings swept away.
The British airline boss himself survived by hiding in his wine cellar with his family and staff and is now at the UN in New York where he flew to campaign for action on climate change.
Johnny Depp’s private island, Little Hall’s Pond Cay, in the Bahamas, which he purchased for $3.6million in 2004, is also understood to have been damaged by the storm.
Beverly Hills Cop star Eddie Murphy also owns an island in the Bahamas called Rooster Cay, which likewise lay in the path of the hurricane, while Bruce Willis and Keith Richards own properties on Parrot Cay in Turks and Caicos, which were hit by Irma.
Celebrity haunt St Barts was hit by the hurricane, affecting a string of luxury properties including one belonging to the Duchess of Cambridge’s sister’s Pippa’s Middleton in-laws.
Meanwhile, Roman Abramovich’s mansion on Saint Barthelmy is understood to have endured the full fury of the deadly hurricane.
The property appearing in The Real World: Key West, on Stock Island, was hit by the storm but reportedly sustained only minor damage.
In nearby Miami, mansions owned by famous names abound. Gloria Estefan and Diddy are just two who have homes on Star Island, while Phil Collins, Dwayne Wade, Birdman and Shakira all have homes on Miami Beach.