Trump Island in Washington: There are Two, and One's for Sale

The departures of top officials from the White House in recent months has created a rate of turnover not seen by a presidential administration in decades, which has led political commenters to characterize President Donald Trump as living on his own island in Washington, D.C. But the literal Trump Island off the coast of the state of Washington, is a far greener, more inviting place than the building at 300 Pennsylvania Avenue. And it’s for sale.

Trump Island is part of a chain called the San Juan Islands and is largely covered in coniferous trees. It includes a sprawling, flat-roofed 7,029-square-foot mansion built in 2000, and boasts a helicopter pad. Its perimeter claims around 5,000 feet of shoreline into the salty waters that lead into the Pacific Ocean. The 29-acre island doesn’t appear to be named after a member of Trump’s family, though, as hyper-curious Washington Post reporter Phillip Bump learned in his story trying to connect the president to the island. Bump reports that Trump’s grandfather lived in Seattle in the 1890s, and was listed as a registered voter in the newspaper, but name of the island goes back to the 1870s, the director of a museum about the archipelago told Bump.

The real estate broker tasked with selling the island is Leigh Zwicker, and the Puget Sound Business Journal reported in the summer of 2016 after it went on the market that she “sent Donald Trump information about the estate but has yet to hear back from him.”

The island is accessible by boat, seaplane, and helicopter. The six-bedroom home — “Completely self-contained and off the grid,” the listing boasts — uses solar power and two generators that run on submerged batteries. As one might expect, it offers “complete privacy in a natural setting from when the sun rises to when the sun sets.”

As of March 8, CNN reports that 38 officials have left the Trump White House. The White House has historically been a stressful workplace, and Trump’s chaotic style has driven out many. The record-number of refugees may want to go to and island someplace for peace-and-quiet; perhaps Trump Island is just the place.