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President Donald Trump wants a second Camp David, and he wants it on his own property. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Trump is pushing to turn part of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach into a permanent, official presidential retreat — a “U.S. Presidential Golf Course” that would host current and future presidents and visiting foreign leaders, modeled directly on Camp David.
The pitch is that it’s a gift. The fine print says the Trump Organization keeps control of the business underneath it.
The proposal
The plan was laid out in a September 3 letter from Harvey Oyer, an attorney representing Trump, to the Palm Beach County commissioners. Trump International would be “designated” as a presidential golf course, a place of statesmanship for presidents and heads of state. The club would give the federal government free access to all of its facilities and work with the General Services Administration and the Secret Service to design presidential lodging on the property.
Trump himself would pay to build the residence and related facilities, meaning — per the proposal — taxpayers wouldn’t bear the construction costs. His attorney’s letter reached for the grandest possible comparisons: “Just as Camp David, Windsor Castle, or the Elysee Palace are known worldwide, so too will the Presidential Golf Course in Palm Beach County.”
County Administrator Joseph Abruzzo told the Post last month that the county is seriously considering the offer and seeking more information. “My understanding is that President Trump views this as a lasting contribution to the presidency and to those who will hold the office after him,” Abruzzo said. Commissioner Maria Sachs has backed the idea, arguing it would bring global leaders and a boost to the local economy.
The land deal
Here’s the part that matters: Palm Beach County owns the land under Trump International, which operates on a long-term lease. Under the proposal, Trump would “grant” the county the legal rights to the specific parcel needed for the lodging and support structures — and the county would then lease that land to the appropriate federal agency, effectively becoming the government’s landlord.
The underlying business, though, stays exactly where it is: under the control of the Trump Organization.
The catch
A sitting president turning his own for-profit club into an official arm of the presidency raises the obvious question. The construction may be free to taxpayers, but the prestige, the foot traffic of world leaders, and the permanent federal imprimatur would flow to a Trump-owned business — one that keeps operating as a Trump-owned business.
Not everyone on the county commission is sold. Commissioner Joel Flores has cautioned that commissioners must make sure local taxpayers bear no financial burden and raised concerns about long-term disruptions to nearby airport flight patterns. Commissioner Gregg Weiss wants more detail on lease extensions and logistics before anything moves. Approval would require full commission support, and there’s no cost estimate yet — nor has anyone picked the actual site for the lodging.
There’s also the security question. The letter touts Trump International as one of the “most secure golf courses in the world.” It was also the site of the September 2024 assassination attempt on Trump, when a gunman was spotted in the trees lining the course. Ryan Wesley Routh was sentenced to life in federal prison in February.
The history
This isn’t the first time a Palm Beach power player has tried to give the presidency a Florida outpost. Marjorie Merriweather Post — the cereal heiress who built Mar-a-Lago — bequeathed the estate to the federal government when she died in 1973 so it could serve as a southern Camp David. President Richard Nixon toured the property in the summer of 1974. The government eventually gave it back.
Why it matters for us
Strip away the ceremony and this is a familiar pattern: public office, private benefit. The same week the White House confirmed Trump won’t reimburse the $20 million-plus in taxpayer money already spent on his campaign-style ads, the president is asking the government to permanently enshrine his golf club as a seat of American power — while his company keeps the keys to the business.
Maybe it’s a genuine gift to future presidents. Maybe it’s the most expensive branding exercise in American history. Either way, the deal deserves more scrutiny than a “remarkable and historic opportunity” press release.
What to watch
- Whether the full Palm Beach County commission signs on — Flores and Weiss are the skeptics to watch.
- What the GSA and Secret Service say once they’re formally consulted; neither has weighed in publicly yet.
- Whether any cost estimate ever materializes, and who pays for the security footprint around a working golf club.
- The lease: what happens to the federal government’s “presidential retreat” if the underlying Trump Organization lease ever changes hands.
