5 Politicians Whose Neighbors Want Nothing To Do With Them

Would you be mine? Could you be mine? Won't you be my neighbor? It's no secret that politicians have their fair share of haters who want absolutely nothing to do with them. Alas, it gets really ugly when those haters just so happen to live right next door to said politicians. (Never forget the time Mar-a-Lago neighbors tried to block Donald Trump from moving back into his private residence at the swanky private club. Awkwarddd.) 

It should be noted, however, that Trump isn't the only one with neighbors who can't stand him. In fact, many politicians would be hard-pressed to find a neighbor willing to lend them a cup of sugar, extend an invite to the neighborhood potluck, or even roll their garbage cans out on trash day when they're out of town. But don't just take our word for it. "Neighbors are just people. Titles don't matter once you're home," Amy Prenner, communications expert and the founder of The Prenner Group told us about the tricky predicament involving politicians and the neighbors who can't stand them. Cases in point: Elon Musk, Stephen and Katie Miller, Bernie Sanders, and Ted Cruz. Let's discuss, shall we?

There goes the neighborhood! In 2022, residents of a luxury suburb in West Lake Hills, Texas, were none too pleased when a mysterious new neighbor, later revealed to be billionaire businessman Elon Musk, moved in. As reported by the New York Times, the SpaceX CEO wasted no time, immediately constructing a 16-foot chain-link fence and a large-and-in-charge gate around the sprawling $6 million property — neither of which he got permits for beforehand. Then came the installation of security cameras everywhere (one of which caught an unsuspecting neighbor relieving himself while walking his dog), a barrage of Teslas parked on the street, gun-toting security teams coming in and out at all hours of the day and night, and even boisterous passersby yelling about trying to find a party at "E's house." Suffice to say, Musk's Texas neighbors want nothing to do with him (and we saw the feud coming a mile away).

In true fashion, the neighbors banded together and fought back against Musk the old-fashioned way — at a Zoning and Planning Commission meeting, and a subsequent city council session, wherein Musk requested variances that would essentially give him permission for the illegal fence and gate after the fact. In the end, the West Lake Hills City Council voted in favor of Musk. 

According to Amy Prenner of The Prenner Group, however, there was probably a better way for Musk to go about his big win. "Privacy and safety are non-negotiable, especially today, but they don't have to come across as cold or entitled. Clear boundaries are fine — the mistake is when they're enforced without explanation," Prenner advised. "If neighbors understand that security measures are about safety, not status, it changes the dynamic. People want consideration more than access."

No one wants to keep up with the Millers. In September, Katie Miller, the wife of Trump-appointed United States Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller, shared a video of herself hosing off colorful sidewalk chalk messages aimed at her hubby, penned by protestors in her Arlington, Virginia neighborhood. The sidewalk art included statements that read, "Stephen Miller is destroying democracy," and "DEI enriches all" (via The Independent). And that's when she decided to pen a defiant message of her own — and she made sure this one could not be washed off. "To the 'Tolerant Left' who spent their day trying to intimidate us in the house where we have three young children: We will not back down. We will not cower in fear. We will double down," she posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Ironically, in October 2025, it appeared that the couple did a complete about-face when ARL Now reported that the couple had listed the Arlington home for sale and were hightailing it to a U.S. military base in Washington, D.C. "What really became apparent to us, and it was probably prior to what happened with the chalking, was that there were people who drove by my home. There were people who sent us death threats who knew where we lived, and it was no longer safe for our children to play in our front yard," Katie said about the decision during a November appearance on the "Ruthless" podcast. She was also adamant that they were exemplary neighbors, maintaining their lawn and passing out treats during holidays. That's right, folks. Not even banana bread could make the Millers' neighbors want anything to do with them.

President Donald J. Trump ticked off a bunch of neighbors in October 2025 when the Secret Service enforced a strict 24/7 no-fly zone around his Mar-a-Lago resort and residence in Palm Beach, Florida, meaning that all air traffic was redirected to the neighboring areas. "I'm not anti-Trump or pro-Trump ... I'm just a resident and I specifically bought a home not under the flight path. If this were to become permanent, I'd probably consider moving," Cassandra Nordenbrock of the upscale Flamingo Park neighborhood in West Palm Beach told The Times about her newfound plight.

Meanwhile, another citizen went as far as to accuse Trump of using his presidency to get something done he wanted to do a long time ago — stop all the air traffic over his pricey club, one he bought in 1985 with full knowledge that the estate was in a direct flight path, and at quite a steal, at an estimated $10 million, furnishings and all. "This might be an attempt to make it a permanent fixture," David Skok of Palm Beach told The Times. "Trump has made it clear he's not liked being in this flight path and this might be his attempt to try to fix that for the value of his property, to the detriment of the town and many, many other people." Over the years, Trump has sued over the air traffic noise and pollution three separate times, with the most recent lawsuit in 2015. However, upon being elected as president in 2016, the lawsuit was promptly dropped. Go figure. 

Is Bernie Sanders a newspaper porch pirate? According to the Washington Examiner, in 2017, WMAL radio host Chris Plante recalled a story on-air in which he claimed that the senator had been accused of stealing his Washington, D.C. neighbor's newspaper. Ruh-roh.

The story goes that after several weeks of not receiving his Washington Post newspaper, the unsuspecting neighbor of the Vermont Senator called up the newspaper and demanded they cancel his subscription. Instead, the newspaper urged the man not to cancel and promised to open an investigation. Upon a thorough investigation, the delivery driver alleged that he witnessed "an older man with gray hair, balding, and little round glasses," retrieve the paper from the porch. It should be noted that the rightful recipient of said newspaper had a head full of dark hair. Perhaps Sanders just couldn't afford to have a subscription at each of the three homes he owned at the time? File that under things you didn't know about Sanders.

"When I work with public figures, I always say this: if you're getting bad press over something like this, it's rarely a media issue at the core — it's a people issue," communications expert and founder of The Prenner Group, Amy Prenner, explained. "The worst thing a politician can do in this situation is go into defensive mode or try to manage it through statements. What actually helps is a genuine, low-key effort to connect." In the event the allegations are true, perhaps Sanders owes it to his neighbor to cover his subscription for the next year or so. 

Ted Cruz and his wife, Heidi Cruz, made headlines back in 2021 when photos surfaced of them hopping on a flight with their daughters to sunny and warm Cancun, Mexico, following a devastating winter storm that left many Texas residents without electricity, heat, or running water for days. As one can imagine, the senator caught some serious flak for leaving his constituents high and dry during such a time. "It was obviously a mistake, and in hindsight I wouldn't have done it," Ted told a gaggle of reporters outside his home, all while protesters lined his neighborhood street holding signs that said, "Resign," per NBC News.

Alas, things went from bad to worse when one of their River Oaks neighbors anonymously released text messages to both Reform Austin and the New York Times wherein it was apparent that Heidi was the one who orchestrated the neighborhood group text thread to join them on their Ritz Carlton Cancun getaway — not their young daughters and their daughters' friends, like the senator had first suggested. "Anyone can or want to leave for the week? We may go to Cancun, there is a direct flight at 445pm and hotels with capacity. Seriously," Heidi fired off in the text thread (via Business Insider).