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The Mayor of the Gold Coast angrily told a journalist to 'f*** off' when grilled about who paid for his trip to Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago property.
asserted
who → see → property
Tom Tate swore at the reporter from ABC on Tuesday following his trip to the Florida estate in February.
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Tate → swear → February
Tate had attended a dinner at Mar-a-Lago to witness a deal between Eric Trump, the US President's son and Executive Vice President of the Trump Organisation, and David Young, the CEO of Australia's Altus Property Group.
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Tate → attend → Group
The pair were meeting to sign a deal for the creation of a 91-level Trump Tower in Surfers Paradise, which has since been abandoned.
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which → meet → Paradise
Questions have been repeatedly raised about who paid for Tate's trip and whether the president attended the dinner.
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president → raise → dinner
The mayor was asked by the ABC reporter if he got 'mates rates' for his Mar-a-Lago stay, to which Tate said it was 'private'.
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it → ask → which
'You said you went there as mayor,' the reporter pushed.
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reporter → say → mayor
'It's private,' Tate shot back.
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Tate → shoot → ?
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate (above) told a reporter from the ABC to 'f*** off' during a press conference on Tuesday
The reporter (right) had asked Tate (left) if he received 'mates rates' during his stay at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate
When the reporter said he was, Tate told him to 'f*** off' before walking out of the press conference.
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Tate → tell → conference
Deputy Mayor Mark Hammel took over and admitted Tate had been out of order.
'
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Tate → take → order
I appreciate the mayor was worked up, it's not appropriate language,' Hammel said, the Courier Mail reported.
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Mail → appreciate → ?
When asked if the questions 'were out of line', he said: 'I think you have a job to do as journalists, to ask questions, obviously I wasn't part of the trip, I don't have particulars.
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I → ask → particulars
I respect that the mayor felt that part of the trip was private, and didn't answer those questions, I suspect we haven't seen the end of this matter at this time.'
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we → respect → time
Tate's business associate, real estate agent Roland Evans, earlier on Tuesday claimed he and Tate ate Australian beef during the Mar-a-Lago dinner.
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he → claim → dinner
Both men claim Trump sat down and ate the meal with them, while the White House and Trump Organisation said rumours the president ate with them were 'a fabrication' and 'categorically false'.
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president → claim → them
Both American sources instead claimed Trump briefly spoke with the group discussing the Gold Coast deal on the patio before he moved to a separate area for dinner.
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he → claim → dinner
Tate had attended a dinner at Mar-a-Lago to witness a deal between Eric Trump (right) and David Young (left), the CEO of Australia's Altus Property Group
Tate claimed President Trump (above) greeted him as 'Mr Mayor' and stayed for a shared dinner
Mr Evans on Tuesday insisted Trump had stayed for a shared meal.
'If people are making stuff up about it, they don't know, but I was there and I know exactly what went on – we met the president and sat down to dinner with him,' he said.
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he → attend → him
'It was an extraordinary experience, we couldn't believe it and didn't know it was going to happen.
'Even now, it is still unbelievable that it happened and that we had dinner with him.'
Mr Evans claimed
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Evans → believe → him
he, his wife, Mr Young, Tate and his wife Ruth had attended the dinner on Valentine's Day weekend alongside members of the Trump Organisation.
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he → attend → Organisation
Tate previously claimed Trump had shaken his hand and greeted him as 'Mr Mayor'.
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Trump → claim → Mayor
'He's very likeable and he does his homework.
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he → do → homework
I had dinner with (Trump) and marvelled at how beautiful (first lady) Melania is in real life,' he said.
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he → have → life
Tate's register of interests initially showed Trump Organisation covered the cost of his two-day stay including meals, accommodation and transfers.
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Organisation → show → meals
Tate (above) twice changed information on who paid for his trip before claiming he covered the costs himself
The Mar-a-Lago dinner, in February, was held to discuss plans to build a Trump Tower on the Gold Coast (above), which has since been abandoned
It was then amended to show Mar-a-Lago Club Inc. had paid those bills.
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Inc. → change → bills
The meals were listed under 'gifts valued at $500 or more or multiple gifts totally $500 or more'.
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meals → list → more
The stay at Mar-a-Lago was categorised as 'sponsored travel or accommodation benefits'.
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stay → categorise → benefits
Tate has since re-paid the costs from the trip and changed the register of interests to show he paid his own way.
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he → re → way
He claimed he hadn't initially received an invoice upon checking out of Mar-a-Lago and put the expenses on the register out of an 'abundance of caution'.
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he → claim → caution
In a curt statement on Tuesday, Tate's office described the trip as a 'private matter'.
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office → describe → matter
'The visit to Mar-a-Lago was private and all costs associated with that visit were paid by Mr Tate, privately,' the statement said.
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statement → associate → Tate
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