What Trump’s neighbor thinks about the election results

Real estate investor Jeff Greene has seen its fair share of elections. The septuagenarian billionaire has served through six Democratic and six Republican presidents, and he made his first fortune shorting subprime mortgages during the 2008 financial crisis before expanding into real estate. (His assets include apartment complexes, offices and retail properties in Los Angeles and South Florida, particularly in West Palm Beach.)

He remembers the election of John F. Kennedy in 1960, when he was six years old, and was once involved in politics himself, running twice unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in Florida. 2010 and for Governor of Florida. in 2018.

Greene, a registered Democrat, did not endorse Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. But he has a Trump connection: He lives next to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, and was once a member of the club. Greene, who is worth an estimated $7.9 billion, spoke to Forbes from his home in Palm Beach on Wednesday, the day after the election, about his reaction to the results and why he is optimistic about the US economy under a second administration Trump.

Forbes: You live in Florida and have been investing there for a long time. What is your opinion on the election and your reaction this morning?

Jeff Greene: Most of my political leanings since growing up in Massachusetts have been Democratic. The first election I remember was John F. Kennedy’s when I was a little kid. The reason is actually that I started with absolutely nothing. I lived the American dream and realized that government can really play a role in helping people achieve what I achieved. And I have always felt that talent is evenly distributed among all people around the world, regardless of their race, age or nationality. But what is not evenly distributed are opportunities.

So I’ve always felt like the Democratic Party was a little more focused than the Republican Party on really providing opportunity for people, through education and health care and housing and the kinds of things to get everyone on the same starting line in life . And that’s why I supported them, but I also voted for Republicans, and I certainly understand the ideas behind the Republican platform and the economics, which of course is “get out of the government” and pro-growth. policy. And if you have a growing economy, there will be more opportunities for everyone.

So look, both parties have good ideas, and now that Donald Trump is our president, we want to get excited about the opportunity he has to bring the country together and hopefully have a great period of opportunity for more and more Americans.

Forbes: You live in Palm Beach, near Mar-a-Lago, and were also a member there. What was it like there (on election night)? Did you see people go in, what was the atmosphere like there?

Green: Well, you don’t really see much because there’s a lot of security since the assassination attempts. But I can tell you, when I drove home last night, there was quite a bit of traffic, because right now every car that comes in there has to be searched. And they just searched the trucks. Now they search the engine under the car with mirrors. So it is a very extensive search for every car. As a result, when a lot of people come in, they queue up because they have to wait before being searched. So I get stuck in the lines, just trying to get home. So it’s a bit of a problem.

Look, in terms of traffic, it’s ultimately very good news for us because Donald Trump is moving to Washington. We’re only going to see the traffic if he’s here during the holidays, which will be mainly during the winter months. And so we’re all focused on what it’s going to do for our community and our country and where we’re going, more than the traffic.

Forbes: As far as Florida is concerned, these results obviously came out quite early. What was your reaction to that? It was expected that (the state) would vote for Trump, but the magnitude of the victory may not have been as expected. You’ve obviously been involved in Florida politics in the past. Did you expect such a result?

Green: You really can’t be surprised. When I first got into politics here in Florida in 2010, there were more registered Democrats than Republicans. Now there are a million more Republicans registered than Democrats. So, of course, it’s pretty hard to lose as a Republican if you start with a million-person registration lead. So that’s pretty much what happened, and none of us were really surprised. I don’t think anyone really thought that Donald Trump would lose Florida, or that (Senator) Rick Scott would lose or that any of these people would lose.

We were somewhat surprised about the (state) constitutional changes. The one on abortion and the one on the legalization of marijuana, they were both at 57%. They needed 60% (to pass). So the majority of people don’t like that six-week abortion ban, and the majority of people would like to have legal marijuana, but not 60%. (Neither amendment received enough votes to pass.)

Forbes: We see that the markets are reacting positively today. What do you broadly expect in terms of the economic picture for next year, and in terms of the Trump administration?

Green: My biggest concern about our economy is our deficit, our national debt. Our debt ratio is above 100% and we are now heading towards 150%. The interest on our national debt costs more per year than our national defense budget. You have a cost of $800 billion a year. So it’s a real problem. Financial crises like these don’t happen all at once. They percolate slowly and it just sneaks up on you, and at some point it can sneak up on us and hurt us.

I was disappointed that none of the candidates spoke on this issue, and I understand why they didn’t. When you run for office, you don’t really want to say you’re going to raise taxes or cut programs. But the truth is, I think we need to do a little bit of both. We don’t really need a tax cut from where we are now. I’m sure (Trump) will expand the cuts he’s made, which he will be able to do now, but I don’t think we need any further tax cuts. We must find ways to increase revenues and find ways to reduce costs without hurting people who have legitimate needs in our economy.

Forbes: What impact could Trump’s plans have on this? There has been a lot of talk about rates, but also about cuts.

Green: Elon Musk said, ‘I’m going to cut $2 trillion in the budget.’ We all know that half of the $6.5 trillion budget is entitlement programs. It’s defense, interest, social security and Medicare. If you cut $2 trillion, it’s almost like cutting everything else in the budget. So I think it’s going to be hard to do that.

But look, what you’re going to see – and this is why the markets are booming – is that a lot of the overregulation that we’ve had has gone away, which would make it easier for people like new entrepreneurs to start businesses. build and start businesses. And that’s why people are responding positively to that, because there’s no doubt that this is what Donald Trump and the Republican Senate will do, which is a good thing. I have always been in favor of taking government out of the business world.

The risk is that we really need to focus on the national debt because one day we might all wake up and no one will want to buy the bonds anymore. If that happens and long-term interest rates start to get really high, it would really do major damage to our economy.

Forbes: What do you think are the prospects for the coming year in real estate? With interest rates expected to drop some more and supply issues resolved, what are your thoughts on real estate?

Green: The real estate market is a local affair. The good news for us – and I am one of the larger property owners here in this community and I have a lot of assets here – is that there is no doubt in my mind that having West Palm Beach on everyone’s television screens around the world will be a can only help our brand and our city. It’s a fantastic community anyway. It’s a great place to live, with a great quality of life. There’s a lot of great things happening in our community already, but I think getting this global attention every time President Trump is in town and even during this transition period as he’s here setting up his Cabinet and all his key people, just but will increase. great for our market.

In terms of real estate in general, we are now overbuilt in many categories, in apartments and office space. If we have great economic growth, even if it means dodging the bullet I think is coming our way on the national debt, there will be more demand for apartments and office space. A growing economy is a wonderful thing. I am all for a growing economy. I just hope that we are aware of the risks of these extraordinary budget deficits that both Republicans and Democrats have done over the past few administrations.

Forbes: Have you been involved in the election at all, in the form of donations or campaigns, or have you postponed this election?

Green: No, not really. I know President Trump, I live very close and I have known him for a long time. I’ve honestly never met Kamala Harris or President Biden. I’ve never met them, I’ve never spoken to them, I don’t really know them. I wasn’t really involved in these elections.

Look, Donald Trump is the president. Let’s hope that everyone comes together and works together, and he works with everyone, and that we have the best time ever for our country, because Americans have been pretty bleak lately and we shouldn’t be. This is the largest country in the world. Everyone in the world wants to come here – legally, illegally, one way or another. And I think we’re just an amazing place and Americans need to wake up. There are so many beautiful things in our country. When you look at the benefits of AI, the life expectancy of biotechnology and all the amazing things we encounter in our lives, we shouldn’t be so disappointed. We should wake up in the morning and everyone should think, ‘I love being in America. I love our country. I love my life here.’ Hopefully we’ll reach that point by the end of his four years. Hopefully everyone will be very happy. That’s the goal.

Forbes: You have a hopeful view of the coming years.

Green: Well, I’m an optimist. You can’t be an entrepreneur without being an optimist. I played tennis this morning. I led 5-1 in the tiebreak and lost 8-6. Things change every day in life and tennis. I’m ready for the next battle. And that’s what I think we should do as Americans. We must always be ready. I just hope that we can put behind us some of these world problems that have dragged us down, these immigration problems that divide us.