Trump Pitches His Golf Club as a Camp David-Style Retreat

President Donald Trump on Wednesday proposed converting his private Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, into a Camp David-style presidential retreat for future presidents and visiting world leaders — a plan that would blend the presidency with his personal business holdings and is already drawing conflict-of-interest scrutiny.

The proposal, formally outlined in a September 3 letter from an attorney for the golf club to Palm Beach County commissioners, was first reported by The Palm Beach Post. Trump described the idea publicly during an unrelated Oval Office event, calling it “sort of a Camp David” and claiming it originated with the Secret Service and the military.

‘It’s a Great Idea’

“It’s a great idea, and it’ll be used a lot,” Trump said, according to NPR. “It seems that all presidents play golf.”

The president argued the property offers superior security: no high buildings overlooking it, no houses with windows a threat could hide behind, and a location about two minutes from the airport. “It’s about as safe as they could possibly get,” he said.

The White House echoed that framing. According to CBS News, an official said the “United States government has asked to look into developing a presidential retreat” at the course so future presidents can “hold important meetings and utilize the amenities of a world-class property.” The statement did not specify whose idea the retreat was or whose permission was being sought.

A Gift to Successors — and a Business Question

In his letter to county officials, attorney Harvey Oyer offered to designate the club a “U.S. Presidential Golf Course,” usable by current and former presidents along with visiting foreign heads of state.

“Just as Camp David, Windsor Castle, or the Elysée Palace are known worldwide, so too will the Presidential Golf Course in Palm Beach County,” Oyer wrote. “This is a gift that the President would like to share with his successors, the people of America, and his fellow Palm Beach County residents.”

The arrangement is complicated by land ownership. The Trump Organization owns the golf club but leases the land from Palm Beach County, which would need to approve any changes because a federal agency must hold the land rights for the site to function as a government facility. Under the proposal, the club would pay to build new presidential lodging and provide free access to the federal government, with a separate entrance from the private club.

Oyer said Trump will be out of office before the project could be completed, calling it “a gift to his successors.” The cost of the development and who would bear it have not been disclosed.

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

Echoes of Mar-a-Lago

The proposal invites comparison to Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s nearby club and primary residence. Years before Trump bought it, businesswoman Marjorie Merriweather Post left the estate to the National Park Service upon her death in 1973, intending it as a “Winter White House.” The agency returned it to her estate in 1980, citing high maintenance costs. Trump purchased the property in 1985.

Oyer cited two presidential precedents for turning over land for public use: Dwight Eisenhower’s donation of his Gettysburg farm and Franklin D. Roosevelt’s gift of part of his Hyde Park estate to the National Park Service.

Camp David itself, a rustic compound in Maryland, was selected by Roosevelt in 1942 and has hosted 15 presidents. Trump has spent less time there than his predecessors, often choosing his own properties instead.

Local Receptivity and Democratic Pushback

Palm Beach County Administrator Joseph Abruzzo called the proposal a “historic opportunity,” saying it “likely would further cement Palm Beach County’s place on the national and international stage for generations to come.”

The reception among Florida Democrats was sharply different. “Florida already has a Southern White House. It was established by President Truman years ago in Key West. Let’s build upon that legacy,” Rep. Darren Soto said. “I also urge President Trump to stop this terrible trend of self-dealing.”

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was blunter. “Florida families face soaring gas, grocery, health and housing costs, yet the most corrupt president ever just spends his days hatching new ways to stuff his family’s pockets,” she said.

A Pattern of Legacy Projects

The retreat proposal is the latest in a series of Trump-directed construction and branding efforts that have blurred the line between public office and personal ventures. They include a White House ballroom, a gilded Oval Office, a proposed triumphal arch, a Kennedy Center renovation, a refurbishment of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a rebuilt golf course in East Potomac Park, and a planned presidential library in a Miami skyscraper.

The conflict-of-interest concerns are not abstract. The Secret Service has paid the Trump Organization hundreds of thousands of dollars to stay at the president’s properties during his presidency. And in December, Trump is set to host the G20 summit at another of his properties, Trump National Doral Miami.

Trump’s claim that the Secret Service and military proposed the retreat has not been independently confirmed. The Secret Service did not respond to requests for comment, and the Pentagon referred questions to the White House, according to Spectrum News.

What’s Next

Any development would require Palm Beach County’s approval to cede or transfer land rights to the federal government — a decision that now rests with local officials who have signaled openness to exploring the idea. The golf course was also the site of a 2024 assassination attempt on Trump; the assailant, Ryan Routh, was sentenced to life in prison in February 2026 — a fact the president did not mention when pitching the property’s security advantages.

For now, the proposal remains a pitch rather than a plan. But as the latest entry in a long list of Trump projects that merge his brand with the institutions he leads, it raises a question that will follow it through any approval process: where the presidency ends and the business begins.