The Daily BS • Bo Snerdley Cuts Through It!
The Daily BS • Bo Snerdley Cuts Through It!

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Trump wants to turn his own golf course into America’s next Camp David — the same place a gunman tried to kill him

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BS BULLETIN:

  • President Donald Trump is backing a proposal to transform part of his West Palm Beach golf club into a permanent presidential retreat for future commanders in chief and visiting world leaders.
  • Trump says the military and Secret Service suggested the idea because of the property’s location and existing security advantages.
  • The proposed retreat would be built at the same golf course where an armed man attempted to assassinate Trump in September 2024.

President Donald Trump has a new real estate project in mind, and this one could become part of the American presidency long after he leaves office.

A new Camp David.

With golf.

And, naturally, at a Trump property.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office Wednesday, Trump confirmed that he supports transforming part of Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, into a permanent presidential retreat.

The president told Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy that the idea didn’t originate with him.

“This was suggested to me by the military and Secret Service,” Trump said, explaining that the golf course offers several advantages for protecting presidents and visiting dignitaries.

Among them: no towering buildings overlooking the property, relatively few nearby residences and convenient access to Palm Beach International Airport.

“It’s about as safe as they could possibly get,” Trump said.

He described a facility where presidents could spend weekends, entertain foreign leaders and conduct official business.

“They could spend the weekend there, like a retreat, like sort of a Camp David retreat,” Trump explained.

And he insisted the project wasn’t intended for his own use.

“This wouldn’t be for me. This would be for all future presidents.”

The proposal was formally submitted to Palm Beach County officials last month by attorney Harvey Oyer, representing Trump International Golf Club.

Under the plan, a portion of the property would become a permanent presidential retreat, with a separate entrance from the existing private golf club.

The Trump organization would pay to construct presidential lodging and associated facilities, according to the proposal, while allowing the federal government to use the retreat without paying the club for access.

Current and former presidents, regardless of political affiliation, could use the golf course, along with visiting foreign heads of state.

Oyer compared the potential significance of the property to Camp David, Windsor Castle and France’s Élysée Palace.

But there is a complication.

The golf course sits on land owned by Palm Beach County and leased to the Trump organization.

County officials would have to approve the arrangement, which would involve a new agreement allowing federal use of part of the property.

County Administrator Joseph Abruzzo described the proposal as a historic opportunity that could raise Palm Beach County’s international profile.

Trump’s enthusiasm for the location’s security advantages comes with an extraordinary historical footnote.

On September 15, 2024, an armed man was discovered hiding along the perimeter of the same golf course while Trump was playing a round.

Secret Service agents spotted the suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, before he could fire at the president.

Routh was subsequently convicted of attempting to assassinate Trump and sentenced to life in prison.

The incident exposed vulnerabilities involving the course’s perimeter and nearby public roads.

Former FBI agent Stuart Kaplan told WPTV that securing the property as a permanent presidential retreat would be extremely difficult.

That creates an unusual contradiction: Trump says security officials recommended the site, while the property’s most notorious security incident involved a would-be assassin waiting along its fence line.

Neither the Secret Service nor the Defense Department had publicly confirmed Trump’s account of the proposal’s origins in the initial reporting.

The plan also raises questions about the relationship between the presidency and Trump’s private business interests.

The proposed presidential facility would be separated from the private club, but the Trump organization would continue operating the surrounding golf property.

Critics could question whether giving the location permanent presidential significance would benefit the family’s business.

Supporters can point to the proposal’s commitment to privately fund construction and provide presidential access without charging the federal government.

The distinction will become important as county and federal officials consider the details.

For historical perspective, Camp David has served presidents since Franklin D. Roosevelt established it as a presidential retreat during World War II.

Dwight Eisenhower later gave the Maryland compound its current name.

Trump has generally preferred his own golf properties to Camp David, which he once described as pleasant but a little too rustic for his tastes.

Now he’s proposing an alternative in sunny South Florida.

The proposal remains in its early stages, with no final county approval or federal agreement announced.

MY QUICK TAKE

Here’s something I find fascinating about Donald Trump.

Most presidents leave behind libraries, memoirs and occasionally a highway named in their honor.

Trump wants to leave behind a golf course where future presidents can conduct diplomacy.

And you have to appreciate the irony of a man who once complained about Camp David being too rustic proposing an alternative with manicured fairways and a clubhouse.

But there is some history here. Marjorie Merriweather Post originally left Mar-a-Lago to the federal government in hopes it would become a presidential retreat. Washington eventually returned the estate because maintaining it was too expensive. Trump bought it in 1985.

Four decades later, he’s proposing another Palm Beach presidential getaway, this time at his golf club.

History does have a sense of humor.

Of course, there is one rather substantial question.

If this location is so exceptionally secure, how did a would-be assassin get close enough to force the Secret Service into action two years ago? That’s a question worth answering before anybody starts ordering presidential towels.

And while the president says the facility would be free for future administrations to use, somebody should carefully examine the fine print.

Because Washington has taught us one thing about supposedly free government projects.

There’s usually a bill somewhere.

DBS WIRE SOURCES:

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