Trump Offers West Palm Beach Golf Club as Camp David-Style Presidential Retreat

The retreat idea is real estate and politics colliding at a famous golf address. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Donald Trump floated turning his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach into a presidential retreat — safe, secluded and, in his words, a lot like Camp David, the storied presidential getaway in Maryland. The proposal is not just talk. First disclosed by The Palm Beach Post, it was outlined in a September 3 letter from the club's attorney Harvey Oyer to the Palm Beach County Commission. Under the plan, the club would be designated a "U.S. Presidential Golf Course" open to presidents and visiting heads of state, with full facility access provided at no cost to the federal government and cooperation with the General Services Administration and the Secret Service to design appropriate presidential lodging on site. Future presidents would receive membership free of charge, and the club would front the construction costs as a gift to the country and Palm Beach County residents. County Administrator Joe Abruzzo has called the offer a "remarkable and historic opportunity." Trump argued the location's seclusion is its strength: no tall buildings looming over it, no homes on it, about two minutes from the airport, and suggested, he said, by the military and the Secret Service. He also noted a simple selling point — that presidents play golf. When asked if it might be dubbed "Camp Donald," he smiled it off: it's already called Trump International, one of the best courses in the world. The club is one of three courses he owns in Florida, making West Palm Beach the latest example of golf and the presidency sharing the same fairway.