President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he wants to turn one of his Florida golf courses into an official presidential retreat, a venue where he and his successors could unwind on the greens in a setting he described as "sort of a Camp David." The proposal, which would place a seat of presidential leisure squarely on Trump's own private property, has already been submitted to local officials, according to the president, and marks the latest chapter in his broader effort to leave a lasting physical imprint on the office he holds.
Trump laid out the idea during an unrelated event in the Oval Office, rattling off what he described as the site's practical advantages. The property sits a short drive from Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence in Palm Beach, and lies close to an airport, a key logistical consideration for a presidential destination. It also has clear distance from nearby residential neighborhoods and tall buildings, features that Trump noted can pose security risks when protecting a president or a visiting world leader.
"It's a great idea, and it'll be used a lot," Trump said, adding that the concept had been suggested to him by the United States Secret Service. "It seems that all presidents play golf," he added, framing the retreat as a natural extension of a tradition that stretches back decades in the modern presidency.
The retreat would give future presidents a ready-made getaway spot that, in Trump's telling, already possesses many of the security infrastructure elements required to host the commander in chief and foreign dignitaries. Camp David, the rustic Maryland compound tucked into the Catoctin Mountains and operated by the Navy, has long served that function for generations of presidents, offering a secluded setting for family weekends, diplomatic summits and crisis meetings. Trump's proposal imagines a warm-weather, links-based counterpart to that tradition, built around the game he has played obsessively throughout his adult life.
Yet the plan immediately raises questions that Camp David never has. The Florida property is part of Trump's sprawling private business empire, so a formal presidential retreat there would comingle the presidency with Trump's commercial ventures — not merely during his time in office, but potentially well beyond it, since the facility would be designed for use by his successors. The arrangement would effectively extend the presidential footprint onto assets that bear his name and generate his revenue, a dynamic that ethics advocates have flagged repeatedly throughout his political career.
Supporters of the idea, echoed by Trump himself, counter that the Secret Service already spends significant resources securing his Florida properties, and that designating a golf course as an official retreat could streamline rather than complicate protection details. The president's point about surrounding development is not trivial: security planners generally prefer sites with controlled sightlines, limited adjacent high-rise construction and straightforward motorcade access to an airfield — criteria Trump argued his property meets.
The proposal also fits a wider pattern of Trump seeking to leave a physical legacy while in office, from construction projects in Washington, D.C., to renovations and redesigns of prominent federal landmarks. Each of those efforts has drawn attention for the way it blends presidential prerogative with personal branding, and a retreat on a privately owned golf course would arguably be the most personal of them all, since it would outlast his presidency in the form of a facility his family still owns.
Notably, Trump did not mention during his remarks that this particular golf course was the site of an unsuccessful attempt on his life in 2024. The September 2024 shooting at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, in which a gunman was apprehended along the perimeter, prompted a substantial review of protective protocols at the property and underscored both the vulnerabilities and the hardened security posture of the venue.
Local officials now hold part of the key to whether the plan advances, as the proposal has been filed for review in the West Palm Beach area. Approvals could involve land-use questions, construction permits and any changes to how the property is operated or restricted. It remains unclear what specific development Trump envisions — whether an existing clubhouse would be upgraded, new quarters built, or the course itself reconfigured to accommodate presidential logistics.
If realized, the retreat would create a new fixture in the geography of the American presidency: a Palm Beach counterpart to Camp David, a place marketed to successors as convenient, secure and built for golf. Whether it becomes a routine stop for future presidents or a symbol of the blurred line between public office and private profit will depend on how the plan is funded, governed and used in the years ahead.
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