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'Good riddance': New York governor cheers Trump changing residency to Florida

"It's not like Mr. Trump paid taxes here anyway," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. "He's all yours, Florida."
Image: Donald Trump
President Donald Trump waves after exiting Air Force One on Monday. Leah Millis / Reuters

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo didn't mince words when he learned Thursday that President Donald Trump had filed paperwork to change his permanent residence from New York City to Palm Beach, Florida.

"Good riddance. It's not like Mr. Trump paid taxes here anyway," Cuomo said in statement. "He's all yours, Florida."

In an interview with MSNBC Friday, Cuomo said Trump won't be missed. "To be a real New Yorker, you have to be inclusive. We don't tolerate divisiveness," he said.

The residence change was first reported by The New York Times.

Trump, who was born and has lived his entire life in New York City, filed a “declaration of domicile” renouncing his home was no longer Manhattan, according to documents filed with the Palm Beach County Circuit Court obtained by the Times. Melania Trump also reportedly filed the paperwork that named the family's Mar-a-Lago resort as its main residence.

Trump confirmed the news on Twitter, where he said that he cherished New York and always will.

"I hated having to make this decision, but in the end it will be best for all concerned," he said. "As President, I will always be there to help New York and the great people of New York. It will always have a special place in my heart!"

The couple had resided in Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan, where the president has lived since he bought the building in 1983.

Trump's New York ties go back generations: The Trumps have been New Yorkers since 1885 when Trump's grandfather immigrated from Germany to the United States at the age of 16.

Trump said that city and state officials have targeted him.

"Despite the fact that I pay millions of dollars in city, state and local taxes each year, I have been treated very badly by the political leaders of both the city and state. Few have been treated worse," he wrote on Twitter.

An unnamed source told the Times that Trump's decision to move his permanent residence was motivated by tax purposes. Florida has no state income tax or inheritance tax.

Trump has faced increasing hostility in New York, where the Manhattan's District Attorney Office is fighting to obtain the president's tax returns.

In his interview with MSNBC, Cuomo suggested the tax case might have been a key factor in Trump's decision.

"My guess is he was advised by his lawyers it that would help his case not to release his taxes to the Manhattan district attorney if he could say he was no longer a resident of the state of New York. I don't believe it's going to be dispositive, but I can see it is a legal tactic and the timing is coincidental," Cuomo told "Velshi & Ruhle," adding that the move smacks of desperation.

"It really is a desperate measure. But I think these are desperate times for the president," Cuomo said.

He also noted that neither Trump's tax cut nor his policies are popular in his home state.

"You know, he raised New York's taxes when he passed his federal tax reform with the so-called SALT elimination of state and local tax deductibility. It cost New York $15 billion," Cuomo said, and "his policies have alienated New Yorkers."

"You know, to be a real New Yorker, you have to be inclusive. We don't tolerate divisiveness. New York is all about different races, different ethnicities, coming together in one community and one state. And they have no tolerance for the antagonism and divisiveness of President Trump. And he has heard that," the governor said. "I think he knows that he's alienated New Yorkers, and his philosophy is repugnant to New Yorkers. "

Trump's critics jeered him online after his announcement, with several assuming taxes were his motivation and others offering condolences to Florida and making joking reference to Moscow as a possible future residence of the president.

Trump lit into Cuomo on Twitter later Friday, claiming he "weaponized the prosecutors to do his dirty work," criticizing taxes and energy costs as "way too high," and saying the city's police are "disrespected" because the governor and de Blasio "just don't 'have their backs.'"

"Too many prople are leaving our special New York," Trump wrote, making pair of spelling errors. "Great leaders would work ... with a President and Federal Government that wants our wonerful City and State to flourish and thrive."