Trump Proposes Turning His West Palm Beach Golf Club Into a ‘Camp David’-Style Presidential Retreat

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 (TodayViralUSA) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he wants to convert one of his Florida golf courses into a retreat for future presidents, describing the proposal as “sort of a Camp David” that would let his successors spend weekends on the fairways while hosting world leaders.

The plan centers on Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, a short drive from his Mar-a-Lago estate. It has already been submitted to Palm Beach County officials, and it would link the office of the presidency to the Trump family’s business interests well beyond the end of his term, according to an Associated Press report carried by NPR.

‘It seems that all presidents play golf’

Speaking during an unrelated event in the Oval Office, Trump called the proposal “a great idea” and said it would be “used a lot.” He said the idea had come from the U.S. Secret Service and pointed to the property’s security advantages, including its proximity to an airport and its distance from homes and tall buildings that can pose risks to a president.

“It seems that all presidents play golf,” he said.

Trump did not mention that the same course was the scene of an attempt on his life in September 2024, when a Secret Service agent spotted an armed man hiding in the tree line along the perimeter fence while Trump was playing a round. The gunman was arrested after a chase, later convicted of attempting to assassinate Trump and sentenced to life in prison.

A ‘U.S. Presidential Golf Course’

In a letter to the Palm Beach County Commission last month, first reported by The Palm Beach Post, Harvey Oyer, an attorney representing the club, said Trump was offering to designate the property as a “U.S. Presidential Golf Course” that could be used by sitting and former presidents as well as visiting heads of state.

Oyer compared the concept to internationally recognized official residences such as Camp David, Windsor Castle and the Élysée Palace. Under the proposal, the club would pay to build new presidential lodging and work with the Secret Service and other agencies to give the federal government free access. The retreat would have its own entrance, separate from the private club.

Oyer described the plan as “a gift” to Trump’s successors and to the public, noting that Trump would be out of office before the project could be completed. He cited earlier presidents who gave property for public use, including Dwight Eisenhower’s donation of his Gettysburg farm to the National Park Service and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s gift of part of his Hyde Park estate.

County approval required

The Trump Organization owns the club but leases the underlying land from Palm Beach County, which would have to sign off on any changes. County Administrator Joseph Abruzzo said local officials were eager to explore what he called a “historic opportunity” that could “further cement Palm Beach County’s place on the national and international stage for generations to come.”

The club earned Trump nearly $37 million during his first year back in office, according to his financial disclosure.

The latest in a series of projects

The proposal adds to a string of building and renovation efforts by the former real estate developer, including a new White House ballroom, a gilded Oval Office, a triumphal arch, renovations at the Kennedy Center and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and the rebuilding of a golf course in East Potomac Park. Trump has also begun planning a presidential library in a Miami high-rise.

Camp David, the wooded compound in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains, has served presidents of both parties as a weekend refuge and a venue for high-stakes diplomacy. Trump has used it less often than many of his predecessors, preferring his own clubs in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia. Mar-a-Lago itself was once offered to the federal government as a “Winter White House” by heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, but the National Park Service returned it to her estate in 1980, citing upkeep costs. Trump bought the property in 1985.