WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Last weekend, President Donald Trump greeted guests at a children’s charity gala inside his private Mar-a-Lago club, telling the crowd in gowns and tuxedos, “Have a good time, everybody. We gotta go work.” Behind heavy, gold-plated doors and layers of security on the same estate, he watched “Operation Epic Fury” unfold from a converted space serving as a makeshift situation room. From there, the president and top aides observed B-2 bombers strike Iranian military targets and Israeli forces target senior Iranian leaders, culminating in the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The White House released photos of the curtained room, showing rows of classified phone lines and monitors.
Early Saturday morning, Trump announced a “massive and ongoing” U.S. military operation in Iran from Mar-a-Lago’s presidential press room. By night’s end he had moved from overseeing war planning to attending a Republican fundraiser, all without leaving the Palm Beach compound.
The Iran operation is the sixth major military action Trump has directed from Mar-a-Lago during his second term, highlighting the estate’s shift from social playground to presidential command center. While presidents traditionally reserve such tense moments for the White House Situation Room — recently renovated at a reported $50 million — and for Camp David, Trump has repeatedly preferred his private club and primary residence, which he bought in 1985.
During the overnight Iran operation, Vice President J.D. Vance was pictured in the White House Situation Room alongside Cabinet members Tulsi Gabbard and Scott Bessent. Trump has spent seven of the first nine weekends this year at his “Winter White House.” In January at his West Palm Beach golf course, he announced a tariff affecting European countries opposing U.S. control of Greenland. The prior weekend he watched strikes on ISIS targets in Syria from Mar-a-Lago, after a routine dentist appointment nearby. On Jan. 3 he announced an unprecedented operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro while wrapping up a holiday at the estate — marking the first time the White House released photos of the president’s Palm Beach situation room as officials watched the operation unfold.
The pattern echoes Trump’s first term: after hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago in 2017, Trump oversaw strikes in Syria in response to chemical weapons use; he faced criticism that year for discussing a North Korean missile launch openly with then-Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe among club diners. In late 2020, he was at Mar-a-Lago when he ordered drone strikes that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, briefly addressing the nation from the draped Mar-a-Lago room before making fuller remarks at the White House days later.
Trump has visited Mar-a-Lago 21 times so far in his second term — seven more than at the same point in his first term, NBC News research shows. Democrats in Congress and security experts have raised concerns about using the club for sensitive work and hosting foreign leaders there. ProPublica reported in 2017 that Mar-a-Lago’s Wi-Fi networks were vulnerable, and in 2019 a Chinese woman was arrested after attempting to enter the club with a thumb drive containing malicious software.
Security at Mar-a-Lago is managed by the U.S. Secret Service in coordination with local partners, a White House official told NBC News, saying the U.S.S.S. and military partners provide a “sophisticated and fully secure array of communication systems” that let the president direct operations from anywhere. But critics argue the president should be at the White House during crises. John Bolton, who served as national security adviser during part of Trump’s first term, said the White House is “the seat of government” and better suited for critical in-person meetings, noting the Vice President led the Sit Room during the recent operation. A former Trump White House official said the president “should not be down there” and described Mar-a-Lago as a place where aides flatter him.
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle defended the practice, saying the United States has the operational capability to allow the president to securely conduct official business from anywhere, “no different than he has at the White House.” Supporters also defend the setup: Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said intelligence personnel can set up a secure room anywhere and suggested complaints are overblown.
Mar-a-Lago has become a hub for official business, GOP politicking and MAGA social life during the winter. The estate has hosted weddings for staffers and allies attended by Cabinet members and advisers. Foreign leaders have also visited: since December, Trump has hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said meeting at Trump’s private residence felt informal and open. A White House official noted presidents have historically met with foreign leaders outside the White House.
Informal diplomacy in Florida extends beyond Mar-a-Lago’s gates. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, both Florida residents and informal presidential intermediaries, have mediated talks and hosted Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Miami as part of efforts around the Ukraine war.
Rising tensions around recent strikes prompted Palm Beach officials to announce indefinite road closures around Mar-a-Lago as a “precautionary measure” to protect the community and the president. The growing list of sensitive operations green-lit from the club all but ensures Mar-a-Lago will be remembered as more than a glitzy resort — it has become a site of high-stakes presidential decision-making.
The president’s influence in the area was further cemented when a four-mile stretch of Southern Boulevard leading from Palm Beach International Airport to Mar-a-Lago was renamed “President Donald J. Trump Boulevard,” the route now used by club members and presidential personnel arriving at the resort.