Sawt Falasteen - Trump plans to turn Florida golf course into presidential retreat

The 80-year-old billionaire said that US security officials had suggested the plan to transform the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach into a sanctuary for his successors.

"Seems that all presidents play golf, and I was asked by Secret Service and the military," Trump -- who is himself a huge golf fan -- told reporters in the Oval Office.

"It's only about two minutes away from the airport, so they literally would be at that site, and they could spend a weekend there -- like a retreat, like sort of a Camp David retreat.

"And they asked if I'd be willing to do it, and I said I would be. This wouldn't be for me, this would be for all future presidents."

Trump said there would be security advantages to the site, where gunman Ryan Routh tried to assassinate the then-presidential candidate in September 2024. Routh was jailed for life earlier this year.

"There are no high buildings looming over it. There are no houses on it," he said.

Trump already spends many winter weekends on the fairways at the club. It is a short drive from his opulent beachfront Mar-a-Lago residence, which he dubbed the "Winter White House" in his first term.

Trump did not address whether US government money would go towards the plan for his club.

- 'Happens to be a highly-rated course' -

But it is the latest in a series of projects in his second term that have seen Trump stamp his physical mark on the US presidency -- while raising questions about where the funds come from.

Trump is building a $400-million ballroom at the White House that he says is paid for by himself and private donors -- though the costs for extra security features are being borne by US taxpayers.

The former property tycoon has also faced ethical questions about his decision to host this December's G20 summit at his Doral golf club near Miami.

He was forced to give up a similar plan in his first term following a major backlash.

A White House official told AFP that the Trump property in West Palm Beach has all the "features that are necessary for any presidential retreat" and "happens to be a highly-rated golf course."

A lawyer representing the Trump course wrote to local officials in September comparing the proposed retreat to Camp David, Windsor Castle in Britain and France's Elysee Palace, the Washington Post reported.

Trump is, however, not a fan of Camp David, having visited the presidential bolthole in the scenic Maryland hills near Washington on only a handful of occasions during his two terms in office.

Other presidents have made frequent journeys and hosted historic foreign summits there, including when Jimmy Carter welcomed Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1978 to sign the Camp David Accords.

E.AbuRizq--SF-PST