Fact Check

Trump Purchases Ex-Rockefeller Estate?

Reports about President Trump's purchasing a former Rockefeller estate in Maine for use as a "summer White House" originated with a "prank news" site.

Published May 7, 2017

Claim:
President Trump has purchased the Mount Desert Island estate of David Rockefeller.

In May 2017, the Channel24News.com web site posted an article positing that President Donald Trump had angered local residents by purchasing the Eyrie in Seal Harbor, an estate on the southeastern shore of Mount Desert Island formerly held by David Rockefeller (the Rockefeller family patriarch who passed away in March 2017), for use as a "summer White House":

In a bold move, President Donald Trump has purchased the MDI estate of David Rockefeller, according to filings at the Hancock County, Maine deed registry. The palatial Seal Harbor home, named The Eyrie, has been a fixture of the Mount Desert Island landscape for decades. According to sources, Trump plans to use the estate as a “Summer White House”, hosting influential business leaders and heads of state. Some local residents are angry, citing increased traffic congestion and their general hatred of the President. No official comment from the White House as to when the President plans his first visit.

None of this was true. The Channel24News web site is not a news outlet but rather a "prank" web site that invites users to "create a fake story" and then "trick all your friends" by spreading the fabricated results through social media postings:

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.