Donald Trump has proposed turning his private golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, into a presidential retreat where future presidents could spend weekends and host foreign leaders.
The plan would create a facility resembling Camp David, the Maryland compound traditionally used by US presidents, while extending the role of one of Mr Trump’s businesses beyond his time in office.
“It’s a great idea, and it’ll be used a lot,” Mr Trump said at an event in the Oval Office. He claimed the proposal had been suggested by the US Secret Service and added: “It seems that all presidents play golf.”
The proposal has been submitted to local officials. Mr Trump said the site was close to an airport, sufficiently separated from residential areas and tall buildings, and already had many of the security features needed for presidential use.
He did not refer to the fact that the course was the scene of an attempt on his life in 2024. Mr Trump was playing there during a break from the presidential campaign when a Secret Service agent spotted an armed man in trees near the perimeter fence.
The man was arrested after a chase, later convicted of trying to kill Mr Trump and sentenced to life in prison.
Presidential retreat would be built by Trump-owned club
The Trump Organization owns the golf club but leases the land from Palm Beach County, meaning commissioners would have to approve any changes.
In a letter to the county, an attorney representing the club said Mr Trump was offering to designate it as a “U.S. Presidential Golf Course”. The West Palm Beach site would be available to current and former presidents as well as visiting foreign heads of state.
Under the proposal, the club would fund new presidential accommodation and work with the Secret Service and other agencies to provide the federal government with free access. The retreat would have its own entrance, separate from the private club.
The club earned Mr Trump nearly $37 million during his first year back in office, according to his financial disclosure. His attorney, Harvey Oyer, said the project would be completed after Mr Trump had left office and described it as a gift to his successors and the American people.
“Just as Camp David, Windsor Castle, or the Elysée Palace are known worldwide, so too will the Presidential Golf Course in Palm Beach County,” Mr Oyer wrote.
Palm Beach County administrator Joseph Abruzzo said officials were keen to examine what he called a “historic opportunity”, adding that it could strengthen the area’s profile nationally and internationally for generations.
Mr Trump has generally spent less time at Camp David, instead often using his own properties, including golf clubs in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia.
The proposed retreat is part of a series of projects through which the lifelong property developer has sought to leave his mark on the presidency, including plans for a White House ballroom, a triumphal arch, changes to the Kennedy Center, work on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and the rebuilding of a golf course in East Potomac Park.
He has also begun planning a future presidential library in a Miami skyscraper. Mr Oyer cited former presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Franklin D Roosevelt, who donated land for public use, in making the case for the Florida proposal.
Mar-a-Lago, Mr Trump’s primary residence, was itself once proposed as a “Winter White House”. Its former owner, Marjorie Merriweather Post, left the property to the National Park Service in 1973, but it was returned to her estate in 1980 because of high maintenance costs. Mr Trump bought it in 1985.
