Security has been tight around President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach since before he took office for his first term in the White House in 2017.
But since the beginning of this season, security measures have grown increasingly tight to deal with what federal officials have said are growing threats to Trump’s life and family. The situation has been complicated by international tensions amid the Iran war.
Among the most visible and disruptive changes was the closure of South Ocean Boulevard near the club from March 3 to May 4, ordered by the U.S. Secret Service.
With U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran beginning Feb. 28, the Secret Service said the road’s closure next to Trump’s home, between the Southern Boulevard traffic circle and South County Road, was part of “enhanced security measures” implemented by the agency along with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
“Security procedures are not static. They are designed to evolve, adjust, and scale based on real-time intelligence, threat assessments, and the specific environment we’re operating in,” Michael Townsend, acting special agent in charge of the Secret Service in Miami, said in a statement provided to the Palm Beach Daily News.
“Our protective model is built around that flexibility. As conditions change, so do the measures in place. That means the public and our partners should always expect the potential for enhancements at any level, because that’s exactly how the system is designed to function.”
Iran in the past has threatened Trump and his properties, including Mar-a-Lago, according to multiple news reports.
Although the Secret Service had originally said the around-the-clock road closure was for an “indefinite” period, on May 4 an alert from Town Hall said the road had been reopened to through-traffic.
A raft of new other security measures involving Mar-a-Lago began to roll out even before February.
In October, flight restrictions took effect in the airspace over Mar-a-Lago, implemented by the Federal Aviation Administration at the Secret Service’s direction, officials said. The new flight restrictions extend in each direction for 1 nautical mile from Mar-a-Lago and remain in place whether or not Trump is home. The restrictions effectively created an around-the-clock no-fly zone that pilots heading either into or out of Palm Beach airspace must avoid, officials have said.
The flight paths of planes diverted away from Mar-a-Lago sends aircraft over homes, businesses and schools that historically were outside of those paths. Residents and officials have pushed back. The town, West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County in December filed a petition in federal court asking for a review of the FAA’s implementation of the restrictions and resulting flight procedures.
A new helipad is slated for construction on Mar-a-Lago’s west lawn this summer. The town said that the pad must be removed after Trump leaves the White House, but the Secret Service recently requested to have the helipad remain in place while any person protected by the agency is in residence at Mar-a-Lago. The Town Council in April delayed its decision on that request until its May 12 meeting.
Threats to Trump and his family are ongoing and increasing, and expected to continue past the end of Trump’s presidency, a Mar-a-Lago representative told the council.
“He is, according to the U.S. Secret Service, the most-threatened protectee in the history of the U.S. Secret Service,” attorney Harvey Oyer told the council at the April 14 meeting. “That is not going to end when his presidency ends.”
On Feb. 22, 21-year-old Austin Tucker Martin of North Carolina attempted to enter Mar-a-Lago through a gate on South Ocean Boulevard. Martin, who federal officials said carried with him a gun and a gas canister, didn’t make it far before he was confronted by two U.S. Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy, law enforcement officials said
Martin was ordered to drop the shotgun and gas canister he carried, but he instead “raised the shotgun to a shooting position,” Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said in a news conference after the incident. The officers fatally shot Martin.
Just inside the gate through which he entered Mar-a-Lago is a U.S. Secret Service guardhouse that was completed last year.
In mid-October, before Trump’s first visit for the season, signs went up around Mar-a-Lago’s perimeter to warn would-be trespassers that they face stiffer penalties. Florida lawmakers in the 2025 legislative session passed a bill that makes it a felony to trespass on a property that is protected by local, state or federal law enforcement and where notice of the felony charge is posted.
New traffic signals were activated Oct. 13 by the Secret Service and Florida Department of Transportation next to the eastbound and westbound lanes of Southern Boulevard at Mar-a-Lago’s south gate.
Also along Southern Boulevard, new signs were erected noting the street’s designation as President Donald J. Trump Boulevard from Kirk Road near Palm Beach International Airport to Southern’s eastern end.
Could more changes be in the future ahead of next season?
The decisions being made now on how to protect Trump reflect threats that are both heightened and dynamic, Townsend said.
“In an environment like that, staying ahead requires continuous evaluation and the ability to adapt quickly,” he said. “That’s not a reaction, it’s a deliberate and necessary approach to ensuring the safety of protected individuals and the public.”
Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Season brought raft of security changes around Trump’s Mar-a-Lago
Reporting by Kristina Webb, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
