Fact check: Trump falsely claims Biden has homes in four vacation destinations and ‘more homes than I do’

Washington (CNN) — Former President Donald Trump falsely claimed Tuesday that President Joe Biden has more homes than Trump does and that Biden has homes in four expensive holiday destinations.

At a campaign rally in Florida, Trump argued that Biden has spent excessive time on vacation during his presidency. “And mansions are in – think of this – here’s a guy that’s been a politician all his life. He’s got homes in the Virgin Islands, Nantucket, Lake Tahoe, Kiawah Island. I mean, where the hell did they get all this money, Byron?” Trump said, speaking to Republican Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida. “He’s got more homes than I do. What the hell is going on with him?”

Facts First: Trump’s claims are false. First, Biden does not have homes in any of the four places Trump claimed he does; rather, Biden has stayed at others’ homes in those places. Second, Trump owns more homes than Biden does. Biden owns two houses, both in Delaware, and there is no mystery about how he afforded them.

Biden’s homes

Biden’s primary home, in a suburb of Wilmington, Delaware, is a 6,850-square-foot house Biden and his wife Jill Biden built on a lot they bought for $350,000 in 1996, 23 years into his tenure as a US senator representing Delaware.

Biden’s vacation home is a beach house near Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, that he and Jill Biden bought for about $2.7 million in 2017. They made the purchase after they signed a lucrative three-book deal earlier that year as private citizens following his vice presidency.

The Bidens disclosed the book income in tax filings they released to the public in 2019. The filings showed they had earned a total of about $15.6 million in 2017 and 2018. About $13.3 million of that was from the book deal and related paid speeches.

Biden’s vacations at others’ homes

As president, Biden has stayed at the homes of wealthy associates in the four vacation destinations Trump mentioned. Biden does not have his own homes in any of them.

Biden has stayed at a US Virgin Islands home owned by Democratic donors Bill and Connie Neville, whom the White House has described as his friends; at a Nantucket, Massachusetts home owned by private equity titan and longtime friend David Rubenstein; at a Lake Tahoe-area Nevada home owned by prominent Democratic donor Tom Steyer; and a Kiawah Island, South Carolina home owned by campaign donor Maria Allwin.

The White House said in 2023 that the Biden family was renting the Steyer home for “fair market value,” and Politico reported in 2021 that the Bidens were renting the Rubenstein home, but the White House has not released specifics on the financial arrangements related to their stays at the four properties; it’s possible that some of the stays have been free.

Regardless, Trump’s assertion that they are Biden’s own properties is wrong.

Trump’s homes 

There is no comprehensive current list of the homes Trump owns, and it can be hard to separate his personal home ownership from his business interests – for example, to decide if unsold condominiums in Trump developments should count as Trump homes.

But it is clear by any reasonable measure that the billionaire real estate businessman owns more homes than Biden’s two.

Trump’s primary residence is at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. He continues to own his former primary residence, a triplex penthouse at his Trump Tower in New York City. He also has a mansion on more than 200 acres in the suburbs of New York City, a private villa at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey, and an estate on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin that his company has tried to sell for years.

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