It’s around this time of year that Donald Trump typically starts to vacate the White House for weekend retreats and “working vacations” in New Jersey, where the U.S. president owns a sprawling country club.
On Saturday, indeed, he departed Washington to spend the Memorial Day weekend at the 600-acre estate, which has been described as the “Summer White House” and as “Trump’s summer playground”.
Where is Trump’s New Jersey getaway?
The New Jersey property is located in rural Bedminster, some 45 miles from the president’s Manhattan residence at Trump Tower. The 78-year-old is believed to have paid around $35 million when he bought it in 2002.
Known at the time of the sale as Lamington Farm, the estate had previously been owned by John DeLorean, the businessman behind the eponymous sports car that was a commercial flop – but earned iconic status for its central role in the Back to the Future film trilogy.
Trump then converted Lamington Farm into Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, a country club that costs new members a reported six-figure initiation fee and boasts two 18-hole golf courses.
Trump National is one of 18 golf properties currently owned by the president around the world, according to the Trump Organization.
How often does Trump go to Bedminster?
During Trump’s first term as U.S. president, which lasted from January 2017 to January 2021, NBC News operated a running tally of where the real estate tycoon-turned-politician spent his time.
According to NBC, Trump – whose enjoyment of golf is well-documented – spent 281 days at his numerous golf properties. Ninety-nine of those were at Trump National.
Where does Trump stay when he’s at Trump National?
At the heart of the Bedminster complex is a Georgian Revival-style mansion, but the president cannot live in the building as it serves as Trump National’s central clubhouse.
However, there are several multi-bedroom, luxury cottages on the estate, one of which is used by Trump, according to Sports Illustrated’s Alan Shipnuck. Per Shipnuck, the cottage has been provided with a secure perimeter by the Secret Service, the federal law-enforcement agency tasked with protecting the president.
Trump reportedly expanded the cottage by 500 square feet during his first term as president, adding a second-floor balcony and a porch to the building.
The president’s Trump National cottage overlooks the country club’s outdoor, 25-meter swimming pool.
“Bedminster is really something,” a source who has spent time at the club with Trump told Axios’s Jonathan Swan in 2018. “People in a swimming pool all day, 15 yards from POTUS’ house.”
Swan also revealed that Trump “likes to drop into the clubhouse to dine with the members on a big upstairs terrace overlooking the golf course”.
What else to know about Trump National?
Other amenities at Trump National include a gym, and a “state-of-the-art racquets center” featuring tennis and pickleball courts. The country club also hosts weddings; those who have tied the knot there include Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, who married Jared Kushner in Bedminster in 2009.
Trump National is, in addition, the resting place of Trump’s first wife, Ivana. After her death at the age of 73 in July 2022, Ivana was buried in a spot “not too far from the main clubhouse”, the New York Post reported.
Has Trump National hosted any major golf tournaments?
In 2017, Trump National’s Old Course hosted the U.S. Women’s Open, one of five majors on the LPGA calendar.
Bedminster was then due to stage its first ever men’s major five years later, after being chosen as the venue for the 2022 PGA Championship.
In 2021, however, the course was stripped of the event in the wake of the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol, which Trump was accused of inciting.
“It has become clear that conducting the PGA Championship at Trump Bedminster would be detrimental to the PGA of America brand and would put at risk the PGA’s ability to deliver our many programmes and sustain the longevity of our mission,” PGA of America President Jim Richerson said.
In July 2022, two months after it had initially been slated to host the PGA Championship, Trump National staged LIV Golf Bedminster, one of eight events in that year’s Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series.
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