“Camp David is very rustic, it’s nice, you’d like it,” Trump said in an interview with a European journalist just before taking office. “You know how long you’d like it? For about 30 minutes.”
White House officials have not said whether Trump plans to use Camp David or, if not, whether he would close the Navy-run facility, which in recent years has cost taxpayers about $8 million a year to operate. Although local officials hope he will visit, they have been given no signals he will, raising concern about the financial and symbolic costs of the president’s getaway tastes.
Just a month into Trump’s presidency, the Secret Service is struggling to protect Mar-a-Lago and his other properties, which don’t have built-in security like Camp David. For Thurmont residents, Camp David has been a source of pride, putting the town on the world map, attracting foreign journalists and diplomatic staff with expense accounts.
And historians worry that Trump’s preference for more high-profile retreats will mark a decline in Camp David as a symbol of simple American values and deliberative diplomacy. This month, Trump hosted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Mar-a-Lago, where the two leaders were photographed responding to a North Korean missile test in an ornate dining area at the club.
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