Pickleball and protests: How a Trump visit is roiling the world's largest retirement community

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Pickleball and protests: How a Trump visit is roiling the world's largest retirement community 51 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Sheila Flynn The Villages, Florida Watch: "It can get heated" - World's largest retirement community talks US politics Some call the Villages - the largest retirement community in the world - "Disney without rollercoasters". But descriptions of the Villages from residents themselves are even more effusive. "It's like being at a resort on a full-time basis," says North Carolina transplant Betty Brock, 79.

"I tell all my friends that don't live here, if you get bored in the Villages, it's not the Villages, it's you. " "The bottom line is, it's kind of like utopia," says 62-year-old Terri Emery, speaking against the backdrop of live music blaring from one of the Villages' five squares. Spanning 30,000 acres, three counties and four zip codes, the Villages is a meticulously-landscaped master-planned community known for sunshine, socialising and an endless supply of recreational fun for those over the age of 55.

The Details

Behind Emery, fellow Villagers are dancing to covers of Livin' La Vida Loca and Man! Nearby is a neatly parked row of colourful, personalised golf carts - the preferred mode of transport in this sprawling pensioners' paradise. "You move here to be young; you don't move here to die and become old," says Emery, who's just finished dinner at a steakhouse down the street.

But even utopia has its no-go zones, apparently. Since US President Donald Trump returned to office last year, politics have become an increasingly thorny issue in the Villages. The president is due to give a speech at a local rally on Friday, as part of his wider efforts to champion his economic policies with voters ahead of the midterm elections.

The speech has created a buzz in the community for very different reasons. Trump supporters are thrilled and honoured the president is visiting. Democrats - along with other Trump critics - are planning protests.

What Experts Say

But one thing they all agree on, at this point, is that it's better not to talk about it to each other. "Everybody does still try to get along," says Maddy Bacher, 63, a Democrat originally from Connecticut. "You want to at least be able to say good morning and how are you and how's the dog.

"But… I find you don't socialise as much, and it's kind of difficult, because everything you do move to talk about might have a political consequence. " Politics, says North Carolina transplant Brock, does come up, but "not as much as you think, because you don't ever know where that line is". Maddy Bacher says she started a Democratic pickleball team because politics got too testy during Covid The community, which was founded in the 1970s, has been a reliable Republican stronghold, voting for Trump in all three of his electoral bids.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.