Will Trump's Bedminster golf club be the new Camp David?

BEDMINISTER -- He went there to prepare for a presidential debate, and returned last weekend to conduct interviews of possible cabinet appointees.

Will President-elect Donald Trump use his Bedminster golf club as his administration's version of Camp David? Or as Kellyanne Conway, one of his top advisers, called it on Twitter, #CampDavidNJ?

​Trump National Golf Course offers the president-elect 434-acres of bucolic Somerset Hills scenery, proximity to New York City, high-end suites for overnight stays, a helipad, and privacy.

What it doesn't offer right now is much in the way of presidential-level security, experts say.

​Experts predict security around and within the golf resort will be significantly beefed up if Trump continues to make regular visits there.

Everything from access roads to phone lines to even the maids and kitchen workers will be freshly scrutinized with an eye to protecting the president.

"We've never had a president in modern history who comes to this job with so many physical and financial assets across the globe," said John D. Cohen, of Rutgers University's Institute for Emergency Preparedness and Homeland Security.

"It's one of a number of unusual circumstances that the Secret Service is going to have to deal with. It's extraordinarily complicated."

​Many previous presidents have had private homes to which they escaped for relaxation and family time: George H.S. Bush had Kennebunkport, Maine, while Ronald Reagan's Santa Barbara ranch was dubbed the "Western White House." Both George W. Bush and Lyndon Johnson had ranches in Texas.

"The difference is none of those locations were intended to be quasi-public or public facilities," said Cohen, formerly with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Trump, by contrast, spends his time in living quarters that double as active businesses catering to their customers. Trump Tower, Mar-A-Lago in Florida, and Trump National all have other paying tenants or club members who want - and pay for - access to the property.

"Their day-to-day business is the use of the facilities by its members," Cohen said. "So you can't simply do what the Secret Service would like to do, which is build a huge wall and screen everybody who comes there."
Trump's relatively sudden decision to head to Bedminster last weekend caused a scramble in the township, as the 16-person police department was asked to provide several officers for round-the-clock coverage, said Mayor Steven Parker.

The department was able to get help from the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office, he said. The township will be holding meetings soon to explore how it can be reimbursed for all those hours of overtime.

"Whenever the president travels anywhere, the local police have to provide support to the Secret Service. Roads might be closed. The airspace about that facility has to be secured," Cohen said. "As president, he can no longer just simply go to these properties and not have it dramatically impact the life and movement of the residents there."

The township is gaining a certain amount of national attention because of the Trump property. Alec Baldwin's recent "Saturday Night Live" skit opened with a scene-setting shot of the sign at the golf club's entrance. Not all Bedminster's residents may welcome that spotlight, but the mayor said his daughters were thrilled when they saw their town name on television.

The golf club is off Lamington Road, a two-lane road with private homes and horse farms on the other side. Its Georgian-style manor house was built in 1931, and was for many years the home of John DeLorean, the maverick automaker.

DeLorean's 1981 purchase price of $3.5 million set a state record at the time. But business and legal turmoil eventually forced him to sell it at a bankruptcy auction in 2000, five years before his death.

It was purchased by a Connecticut-based golf course developer for $15.25 million. Trump bought it from that company two years later for an undisclosed price.

Camp David, the traditional presidential retreat, presents a far more straightforward security assignment. It is owned by the federal government - technically it's a Naval Support Facility - and staffed by government employees.

Over the decades, presidents have used it for everything from relaxation to negotiating international treaties, such as the 1978 "Camp David Accords" between Israel and Egypt. George Bush held emergency staff meetings there in the days after the attacks of Sept. 11.

At Trump National, Mar-a-Lago, or any other Trump property where he chooses to stay during his administration, employees will most likely have to go through a screening process and be vetted by the Secret Service if they are going to be near the president, said Jason Porter, a vice president at Pinkerton, the security firm.

Even a maid changing the presidential bed linens might have to be escorted by a security officer, he said.

Trump National's banquet facilities can be booked for weddings and the like -- Ivanka Trump was married there -- which means guests who are not club members can be on the property as well. It is also hosting the U.S. Women's Open next July.

Porter said he doubted guests would have to be screened if their event coincided with a presidential visit. When presidents stay at a regular hotel, the other guests are not typically vetted in any way, he said.

Adopting presidential-level security at his properties will likely require some adjustment on Trump's part, as it has for every modern president, said Porter. Harry Truman called the White House a "great white jail," while Bill Clinton called it "the crown jewel of the prison system."

Trump has had his own security guards for years, Porter said, but with them, "he was able to call the shots."

That's not always the case with the Secret Service, he said. "When someone becomes president of the United States, they then become an asset of the United States."

Cohen agreed: "You have a president-elect with a very strong personality who likes to go out and see people, and has residences where he feels comfortable," he said. "I can foresee a lot of challenges for the Secret Service - and a lot of tension between them and him."

Source: nj.com