In 1973, cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post died and left her Palm Beach mansion to the United States government. She wanted Mar-a-Lago to serve as a winter retreat for American presidents.
Washington couldn't make it work. The upkeep was too expensive, the logistics too difficult, and in 1981 the government gave the house back. Four years later, a New York developer named Donald Trump bought it.
Fifty-three years after Post's gift, Trump is offering future presidents something similar, a few miles away, and he says he'll cover the construction.
Harvey Oyer III, the attorney for Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, has asked Palm Beach County commissioners to make the club the "U.S. Presidential Golf Course." It would be open to "all past, current, and future United States Presidents and visiting foreign heads of state."
Under the plan, the county would transfer a separate parcel of its land, with its own entrance, to the federal government. Trump International Golf Club would pay to build a presidential lodging facility there. The Trump family would keep running the private club and keep paying its lease to the county. The future presidents would get the retreat.
"This is a gift that the President would like to share with his successors," Oyer said.
He also pointed out that the gift has an awkward timeline. Trump will be out of office before the lodge is finished. He's building it for whoever comes next, whichever party that turns out to be.
Oyer aimed high. "Just as Camp David, Windsor Castle, or the Elysee Palace are known worldwide, so too will the Presidential Golf Course in Palm Beach County," he wrote. "It would further cement Palm Beach County as one of the most recognizable brands and destinations in the world."
The county is taking it seriously. County Administrator Joseph Abruzzo called it a "remarkable and historic opportunity" and is in talks with the federal General Services Administration.
"President Trump's willingness to make this significant private investment and create a Presidential institution intended to serve his successors and our country for generations is an extraordinary act of generosity and vision," Abruzzo said. "Communities across America compete for the honor of hosting presidential libraries because of the history, prestige and economic impact."
He added: "My understanding is that President Trump views this as a lasting contribution to the presidency and to those who will hold the office after him."
The site already has much of what a presidential retreat needs. A White House official listed the features: "The property is minutes away from the Donald J. Trump International Airport, does not have buildings looming, does not have houses along the course, has great security features, is close to law enforcement, and happens to be a highly-rated golf course. These are features that are necessary for any presidential retreat."
Yes, that's the airport's name now. Florida renamed Palm Beach International this summer, and the airport code changed from PBI to DJT in August.
The airport also explains how Trump got the golf course. In 1995, jets roaring over Mar-a-Lago led Trump to sue Palm Beach County for $75 million over airport noise. The 1996 settlement gave him a long-term lease on 214 acres of county land just south of the runways. He pays $88,338 a month and built one of the top-rated courses in Florida on it. The club brought in $36.9 million, according to his most recent financial disclosure.
The land he won in a fight over airplane noise now sits next to an airport named for him, and he's offering to put a retreat for his successors on it.
Camp David has a similar history. Franklin Roosevelt turned a government camp in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains into a presidential hideaway in 1942 and called it "Shangri-La." Eisenhower renamed it after his grandson. Over eight decades, it has hosted peace accords, summits and presidents of both parties trying to get away from Washington. The taxpayers paid for all of it.
The Palm Beach plan is still in the early stages. It needs approval from county commissioners and agreement from the GSA, and no name has been picked beyond "Presidential Golf Course."
Washington gave Mar-a-Lago back in 1981 because it couldn't afford the upkeep. In 2026, the man who bought it is offering future presidents a retreat a few miles away, and he'll pay to build it.
