Trump Proposes Turning His West Palm Beach Golf Course Into a 'Camp David'-Style Presidential Retreat
The plan, already submitted to Palm Beach County, would have the Trump Organization build lodging on county-owned land for use by current and former presidents.
President Donald Trump said Wednesday he wants to develop one of his Florida golf courses into a presidential retreat where his successors can spend quiet weekends, calling it "sort of a Camp David" that already has many of the security features needed to host presidents and world leaders.
The proposal for the West Palm Beach course would blend the presidency with Trump's business ventures beyond his time in office. Speaking during an unrelated Oval Office event, Trump said the idea came from the Secret Service. "It's a great idea, and it'll be used a lot," he said. "It seems that all presidents play golf." He pointed to the property's closeness to an airport and its distance from residential homes and tall buildings, which pose security risks. It sits a short drive from his Mar-a-Lago home.
The plan has already been submitted to local officials. In a letter to Palm Beach County commissioners last month, first reported by the Palm Beach Post, attorney Harvey Oyer, who represents the golf course, said Trump is offering to designate it a "U.S. Presidential Golf Course." Oyer wrote that, "Just as Camp David, Windsor Castle, or the Elysée Palace are known worldwide, so too will the Presidential Golf Course in Palm Beach County." The letter said current and former presidents and visiting foreign heads of state could use it.
Under the proposal, the club would pay to build new presidential lodging and then work with the Secret Service and other agencies to give the federal government free access. The Trump Organization owns the club but leases the land from the county, which would need to approve any changes. County Administrator Joseph Abruzzo said in a statement that officials are eager to explore what this "historic opportunity" could mean, adding that it "likely would further cement Palm Beach County's place on the national and international stage for generations to come."
Trump did not mention that the course was the site of an unsuccessful attempt on his life in 2024. He was playing at Trump International Golf Club during a break from the campaign trail when a Secret Service agent spotted an armed man in the trees along the perimeter fence. The man was arrested after a chase, later convicted of trying to kill Trump, and sentenced to life in prison.
Camp David, a rustic compound in Maryland, has long served presidents as a weekend retreat and a place to host meetings. Trump has spent less time there, often choosing his own properties, including golf clubs in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia. The retreat idea is the latest in a string of projects aimed at leaving his imprint on the presidency: a White House ballroom, a gilded Oval Office, a triumphal arch, a renovated Kennedy Center, a refurbished Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and a rebuilt golf course in East Potomac Park. He has also begun planning a presidential library in a Miami skyscraper.
