A Palm Beach County law firm has asked county commissioners to consider a striking idea: turning Trump International Golf Club into a permanent, official U.S. presidential golf course that would outlast Donald Trump's time in office and remain available to every president who follows him, regardless of party. The proposal, sent in a letter to the county, would keep the 27-hole club near West Palm Beach tied to the presidency indefinitely, with the club's amenities offered to sitting presidents, past presidents, and even visiting foreign heads of state.
The letter came from Shutts & Bowen LLP, a law firm representing Trump International Golf Club L.C., according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Attorney Harvey Oyer, who acknowledged sending the letter, described the property as an ideal site for the designation and said the move would cement Trump International Golf Club and Palm Beach County on the global stage in perpetuity. Oyer, a fifth-generation Floridian, historic preservationist and former chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches, framed the pitch as rooted in Trump's affection for Palm Beach County, which he called Trump's home and the home of two of his children and many of his grandchildren.
Palm Beach County Administrator Joseph Abruzzo called the proposal a potentially remarkable and historic opportunity, comparing its uniqueness to that of a presidential library. Abruzzo said the designation could further cement the county's place on the national and international stage for generations and confirmed he plans to work with county commissioners to explore it, per the Sun Sentinel's reporting.
How the Deal Would Actually Work
Under the proposed ownership model, Palm Beach County would remain the landlord over the property while entering into a lease agreement with a federal government agency. Trump International Golf Club would work with the General Services Administration and the Secret Service, and the club would design a presidential lodging facility on-site as part of the arrangement. The property already has an in-place security apparatus, and its uses are limited by Federal Aviation Administration restrictions tied to its location.
The golf club sits adjacent to President Donald J. Trump International Airport and near President Donald J. Trump Boulevard, both within Palm Beach County. That airport itself only recently completed its own presidential rebrand: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation in March preempting local naming authority to officially rename Palm Beach International Airport, with the change taking effect July 9, according to News4JAX. The International Air Transport Association followed by officially switching the airport's location code from PBI to DJT on August 18, according to Wikipedia.
A Lease With a Complicated History
Trump International Golf Club's relationship with Palm Beach County dates back decades. The Trump Organization originally obtained the long-term lease for the county-owned land in the late 1990s as part of a legal settlement with the county over airport flight-path noise near Mar-a-Lago, according to Golf Digest. As of January 2021, the Trump Organization was paying $88,338 per month, exceeding $1.06 million annually, to lease the land, per Bisnow.
That same month, Palm Beach County's chief assistant county attorney, Howard Falcon, determined the county had no legal grounds to cancel the lease because the contract lacked a “bad behavior” clause, according to Newsweek. County officials had reportedly inquired about ending the lease following the January 6 Capitol attack, but attorneys found no legal path to do so.
Branding arrangements around Trump family properties in the county have also grown more formalized in recent months. Under a May 5 Naming Rights and License Agreement with Palm Beach County, DTTM Operations, the Trump family licensing firm led by Donald Trump Jr., retained approval rights over biographical displays at the airport and required branded merchandise to be sourced from designated retailers, according to PBS NewsHour. That deal reportedly lets the Trump Organization maintain control over its intellectual property without collecting direct royalties from the airport.
Security Precedent and Course Details
The golf club, located at 3505 Summit Blvd. near West Palm Beach, operates a 27-hole facility featuring three 9-hole loops designed by Jim Fazio alongside a 45,000-square-foot clubhouse, according to filings from the New York Attorney General's office. The site's existing security infrastructure has already been tested: in September 2024, federal authorities charged Ryan Wesley Routh with firearms offenses following an attempted assassination incident while Trump was golfing at the club, a case Hoodline previously covered.
Backers of the proposal say a presidential golf course designation would have a positive impact on the local economy whenever a president or foreign head of state visits. Nationally, there is some precedent for dedicated federal golf grounds tied to the presidency: reports surfaced in January regarding plans to renovate the Courses at Andrews at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, which has historically functioned as the “president's golf course,” according to Wikipedia.
Under the proposal, the project would be completed only after Trump ends his presidency, and the golf course and its amenities would be made available to all past, current and future U.S. presidents regardless of party affiliation, as well as to visiting foreign heads of state at the White House's discretion. What remains unresolved, and unaddressed in the proposal as reported, is exactly how a private commercial lease with a history of legal scrutiny would convert into a federal agency arrangement, and how access and aviation restrictions would be managed across future administrations.
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