Real estate firm raising funds to buy Trump’s childhood home as gift to departing president

A real estate firm representing President Trump’s childhood home in Queens has launched a crowdfunding campaign asking Trump supporters to purchase the property in the president’s honor. 

Paramount Realty USA kicked off a GoFundMe page Tuesday, writing in the fundraiser’s description, “Love Trump? Thank President Trump by contributing to this campaign to buy his childhood home in his honor!”

“We are raising funds to buy President Trump’s childhood home for him, or a charity of his choosing, as a token of appreciation,” the post continued. “What happens to the historic property is up to him!”

The page listed suggested potential uses for the home, including a presidential library, museum, house of worship or even simply a “single family home.” 

As of Wednesday afternoon, the page had raised just $125 of its $3 million goal. 

According to The New York Times, the house was put up for auction last fall, but failed to meet the reserve price, Paramount founder Misha Haghani said. 

The Times reported that the house sold for about $1.4 million just before Trump’s inauguration 2017, roughly 78 percent higher than the $782,500 it sold for in 2008. 

That buyer then sold the house to the most recent owner for $2.14 million at auction, which the Times noted is more than double the value of the property, based on comparable homes in the area. 

When the home was on the market four years ago, Trump indicated in an appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” that he wanted to purchase the property himself. 

“I had a really good childhood,” he said while looking at an image of the home. 

“I want to buy it. I want to buy it,” he added in the appearance, from which Paramount included a clip on the GoFundMe page. 

While Trump recently changed his official residency to Florida, Haghani said he hopes the president may use the house where he lived until he was 4 years old for charitable purposes. 

“Technically, he could accept the home and say, ‘Great, I just got another property to add to my empire,’ but he’s not going to do that,” Haghani told the Times. “I believe if the president were to accept the property, he would do something with it in honor of his presidency. It’s either that or he’ll just donate it to some charity.”