Deal lets Trump’s 1,250-square-foot flag fly

PALM BEACH, Fla. – Donald Trump and the town of Palm Beach have reached a quiet truce in the six-month war over the huge American flag he flies over Mar-a-Lago, his house by the sea.

A shorter version of the same 25-by-50-foot flag stays. But, instead of flying from an 80-foot flagpole built to withstand a Category 5 hurricane, the flag will fly from a 70-foot pole.

So Trump gets to keep the flag in his own backyard.

Trump declined to comment Monday in deference to a stipulation in the agreement reached with the town and approved unanimously by the Town Council over the weekend to not speak to the media until the two sides issue a joint statement.

Attorneys on both sides Monday either declined comment or could not be reached.

Last week, lawyers for Trump and the town reached an agreement during secret, court-ordered negotiations that call for the town to waive all fines for the flagpole that have been amassing at a rate of $1,250 a day since January. Trump agreed to withdraw the $25 million lawsuit he filed last December against the town arguing in part that its ordinances regulating the size of flagpoles to 42 feet violate the U.S. Constitution and his civil rights by denying free speech and expression.

According to the 11-point agreement, Trump also will donate $100,000 “to charities agreed to between the parties dealing with Iraq War Veterans, (the) American Flag or the local VA hospital.”