Washington (United States) (AFP) – US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he wants to turn his luxury Florida golf course into a retreat for future presidents modeled on the historic Camp David getaway.

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.

…