Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate swore at an ABC reporter and stormed out of a press conference on Tuesday after being pressed on who funded his February visit to Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. The trip, made to witness a since-abandoned deal for a 91-storey Trump Tower in Surfers Paradise between Eric Trump and Altus Property Group chief executive David Young, has drawn repeated scrutiny over its funding and over conflicting claims about whether the US president personally dined with the Australian delegation.

When the reporter asked whether Tate had received "mates rates" for his stay and challenged him on his earlier claim to have attended as mayor, Tate called the questions "private", then told the journalist to "f*** off" before walking out; Deputy Mayor Mark Hammel later acknowledged the outburst was inappropriate. Tate's register of interests has twice been amended over who paid for the trip, first naming the Trump Organisation and then Mar-a-Lago Club Inc, before he said he had covered the costs himself. Separately, Tate's associate Roland Evans insisted the group shared an Australian beef dinner with Trump, who reportedly greeted Tate as "Mr Mayor", though the White House and Trump Organisation have dismissed such claims as "categorically false", saying Trump only briefly spoke with the group before dinner.