Harvey Oyer wrote to Palm Beach County on Sept. 3 and asked it to turn Donald Trump's golf club into the next Camp David.
Oyer is the lawyer for Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. The county owns the land under the course and leases it to the club. Oyer asked the commissioners to hand a piece of that land to the federal government, and he promised the club would pay to build a presidential residence on it, at "no cost to the federal government." Future presidents would get free memberships. "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.
County Administrator Joseph Abruzzo told The Washington Post the county is "seriously considering the proposal" and will pick a parcel. Trump's representatives told county officials last week the club would keep paying its lease and build the retreat on connected land with its own entrance.
Trump himself has said nothing about the letter in public. A White House official, previewing the plan anonymously, called the club "minutes away from the Donald J. Trump International Airport." Oyer said construction would not finish before Trump leaves office, so the project is "a gift" to his successors. Who gets the gift?
