Other security issues have occurred at his golf clubs outside West Palm Beach and in western Miami-Dade County.
Mar-a-Lago shooting: Armed man shot, killed near Trump home
An armed man was fatally shot after breaching a secure perimeter at Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s home and club, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026.
At least 11 security-related incidents have occurred at Trump family properties in South Florida since 2016.These incidents have taken place at Mar-a-Lago, as well as his golf clubs in Doral and West Palm Beach.While most incidents were non-violent, law enforcement discharged weapons in at least three cases.Events have ranged from trespassing and protests to an assassination attempt and a shooting.
The shooting death of an alleged armed intruder at Mar-a-Lago on Feb. 22 is just one of at least 11 security-related incidents at the Palm Beach estate or South Florida Trump family properties since President Donald Trump’s first presidential election victory in 2016.
The majority have been at Mar-a-Lago,known as the Winter White House, the president’s residence and private club in Palm Beach. Others occurred at his golf clubs outside West Palm Beach and in western Miami-Dade County.
Most have been non-violent but a few resulted in injuries, and in at least three of the instances law enforcement agents resorted to discharging their weapons.
Here is a list of the most notable arrests and confrontations that have taken place at President Trump’s properties.
∎ In May 2018, a gunman entered the lobby at the Trump National golf club and resort in Doral, Florida and opened fire. No bystanders were hurt, but the shooter was wounded in a shootout with police, according to the arrest report.
∎ In March 2019, a 32-year-old Chinese woman, who said she wanted to talk to President Trump’s family about economic relations between the United States and her home country, lied her way into Mar-a-Lago over the weekend before she was arrested, U.S. Secret Service agents said. Yujing Zhang, who said she was sent by a fellow Chinese national, was charged with making false statements to a federal officer and entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds. Agents said she was carrying a laptop, four cellphones, an external hard drive and a thumb drive in her purse, agents said. Federal agents also said a search of her hotel room also turned up additional electronics, including another cellphone, along with $8,000 and credit card. She was convicted in 2019 of lying to Secret Service agents to get into Mar-a-Lago and sentenced to 18 months. The incident occurred while Trump was enjoying a golfing weekend at Mar-a-Lago.
∎ In 2019, a University of Wisconsin student was intercepted when he was in a tunnel that connects the club to the beach. The 18-year-old college freshman fooled Secret Service agents into thinking he was a club member and wandered the grounds for 20 minutes before he was arrested. Mark Lindblom told a federal magistrate that he had no evil intentions when he decided to try and enter the club on the day after Thanksgiving while President Donald Trump and his family were visiting. The Washington, D.C. teenager said he just wanted to see if he could do it.
∎ In December 2019, another Chinese woman was arrested after attempting to enter Mar-a-Lago. Jing Lu’s lawyers said when she he walked onto the Mar-a-Lago property and began snapping photos of Donald Trump’s part-time residence, it was “an honest mistake” and not a crime. In February 2020, a jury found her not guilty of trespassing but jurors did find her guilty of resisting arrest when officers later stopped her on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach.
∎ In January 2020, an opera singer made it through the security checkpoints. There was a high-speed chase through all of the barricades all the way down past Mar-a-Lago. Her car was shot at multiple times. She survived, but her car was destroyed. The woman, who has a history of mental illness, entered an insanity defense.
∎ In August 2024, a Chinese citizen was arrested after police said he repeatedly tried to get into the Mar-a-Lago Club while he claimed that he had documents that tie his home country’s government to the July 13 assassination attempt on the Republican nominee for president. Zijie Li, 38, of El Monte, California, faced a misdemeanor trespassing charge in the incident. Trump was not at Mar-a-Lago when Li was arrested. According to jail records, this was the first security-related arrest at Mar-a-Lago since July 13, when a gunman shot at Trump as he spoke at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
∎ In September 2024, a man named Ryan Routh was arrested on charges of attempt to assassinate Trump while the then-former president played a round at his Trump International Golf Club not far from Mar-a-Lago. Routh was convicted of attempting to kill President Donald Trump was sentenced to life in prison on Feb. 4., 2026
∎ In December 2024, shortly after Trump was re-elected, two people, a woman and a teenage boy, were arrested in separate trespassing incidents at the president-elect’s private club.
∎ In February 2025, authorities arrested a man who jumped over a wall and onto the lawn of Mar-a-Lago one day before the president was scheduled to return to the Palm Beach estate.
∎ In November 2025, Palm Beach Police arrested a woman on charges of driving under the influence and hit-and-run after they said she crashed through police barricades at a security checkpoint near Mar-a-Lago Club, while the president was home. The 85-year-old South End resident was taken into custody after the incident. She was released from the Palm Beach County Jail on Nov. 16 on a $1,250 bond, jail records show.
∎ In February 2026, competing demonstrations outside Trump International Golf Club on Feb. 15 led to the arrest of a 76-year-old suburban Lake Worth Beach man on a misdemeanor battery charge. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said that it took Paul Messer into custody after the incident at the suburban West Palm Beach site, where he carried a flagpole as part of a “Not My President” protest over the immigration policies of President Donald Trump. Trump was at the course, playing golf with Gov. Ron DeSantis and former college football coaches Urban Meyer and Nick Saban, according to a White House media pool report.
Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.