Dead in New York on the 14th, Donald Trump’s first wife, Ivana, was buried days later at the former US president’s property in Bedminster, New Jersey. Vehicles such as the British newspaper The Guardian are now analyzing the reasons that may have led to the burial on a golf course.
This weekend, speculation emerged that, after the burial, the Republican politician’s business group could ask for the site to be redesignated as a cemetery, which would guarantee tax exemptions — in a state with high real estate taxation.
On Saturday (29), Dartmouth College sociology professor Brooke Harrington, who studies the topic, wrote about the case on Twitter and said that, in theory, such an operation would be possible.
The New Jersey tax code mandates that firms that manage non-profit cemeteries are exempt from paying real estate, inheritance and business administration taxes — in addition to income taxes.
According to documents published and analyzed by Harrington, the legislation designates these companies as “any individual, corporation, partnership, association or other public or private entity that owns, operates, controls or manages land or sites used or dedicated to the burial of human remains.” . There is no mention of a minimum number of bodies that must be buried in order to obtain this classification.
As far as is known, Ivana would be the first person to be buried on the Bedminster property, which was consecrated, according to The New York Times, so that the Catholic rite could be followed. Images of what would have been the burial site also circulated on social media — “a sad little piece of land”, as Harrington defined it, close to hole number 1.
Trump’s golf club, where he usually goes in the summer with his family, is 2 km².
Speculation about the redesignation of the site into a cemetery was also due to the former president’s previous projects. ProPublica, an investigative journalism organization, reported that the family some time ago tried to change the classification of a property in Hackettstown, also in New Jersey.
And, regarding Bedminster, there are documents from his company in which he would declare a wish to be buried there. A 2017 report by The Washington Post reviewed studies that the politician’s companies did for the site: first, a grandiose mausoleum for Trump, which drew criticism from locals; then a cemetery with over 1,000 graves; later a family cemetery; then, a family member and another with 284 graves.
Still regarding tax exemptions, the Post’s text says that the property would already have benefits of the type, when having the designation of a farm, because of a localized production of fertilizer. What is certain is that, for the time being, no cemetery project has come to fruition at the site, nor is there any news that reclassification has been requested.
Ivana Trump, 73, died at home after suffering trauma from an accidental fall. Born under the communist regime of former Czechoslovakia, she moved to the US, where she worked as a model, writer and businesswoman.
She and the former president were married in 1977 and had three children: Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric. In the 1980s, Ivana played an important role in building the family business and the former president’s image. They divorced in 1992.
