President Trump has proposed designating a portion of his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, as a U.S. Presidential Golf Course to serve as a retreat for current and future presidents. The plan, described in a September letter from golf course attorney Harvey Oyer to the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners, suggests the site would function similarly to Camp David. Mr. Trump said on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, that the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. military recommended the location due to its security features and lack of surrounding high-rise buildings.
The proposal involves the Trump Organization paying for the construction of a lodging facility on-site, which would be designed in coordination with the Secret Service and the General Services Administration (GSA), the agency responsible for managing federal property. According to the letter, Mr. Trump would grant land rights to Palm Beach County, which would then enter into a lease agreement with a federal agency. Oyer noted that Mr. Trump expects to be out of office before the facility is completed.
Palm Beach County Administrator Joseph Abruzzo confirmed the proposal is under consideration, stating the county is exploring the details of the arrangement. A White House official cited the property’s proximity to the Donald J. Trump International Airport and local law enforcement as key factors for its suitability. Currently, U.S. presidents utilize Camp David, a 125-acre Department of Defense facility in Maryland, for government meetings and hosting foreign leaders. The Secret Service has previously paid the Trump Organization hundreds of thousands of dollars for lodging at Trump-owned properties during the current presidency.
Residents in West Palm Beach and the surrounding county would notice a federal presence at a site that currently operates as a private club. The change would formalize the area as a hub for international diplomacy, similar to the functions of Windsor Castle in the United Kingdom or the Élysée Palace in France, as referenced in the proposal letter. The exact scale of the lodging facility and the number of federal employees required to maintain the site were not reported. A White House official noted that the lack of looming houses or tall buildings near the course provides a specific security environment that the government seeks for high-level meetings.
The next steps for the proposal involve ongoing discussions between Palm Beach County officials, the Trump Organization, and federal agencies to determine the feasibility of the lease and legal rights transfer. The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners must decide whether to accept the land grant and enter into the proposed lease agreement with the federal government. A specific date for a vote or a deadline for the GSA to approve the lodging designs was not reported. Additionally, the name of the new facility has not yet been chosen. The project is expected to continue past the end of the current presidential term, though a specific completion date is currently unknown.