PresidentDonald Trumpis reportedly considering installing a landing pad for helicopters on theWhite House South Lawn.
TheWall Street Journalfirst reported that plans were in discussion to install a helipad on the South Lawn to prevent new Marine One helicopters from damaging the grass.CNNandThe Washington Postalso reported these discussions, citing anonymous sources on May 18. The White House did not comment on the possibility of a helipad specifically; instead, spokesperson Davis Ingle said, "President Trumphas continued to make improvements at the White House and all around D.C. to benefit future presidents and Americans.”
The Post reported the helipad has long been under consideration. It would be the latest in a series of development projects around D.C., including the$400 million White House ballroom, repainting the bottom of the Lincoln MemorialReflecting Pooland a proposed250-foot "Triumphal Arch."
At his Winter White House in Florida, the Mar-a-Lago helipad has been tightly regulated by the town. The helipad installed during his first term was destroyed shortly after he left office. It's set to be rebuilt in the coming months, now that Trump is back in office. Recently, the town considered granting permission for the pad to remain past the end of Trump's presidency.
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Mar-a-Lago helipad was built and destroyed
When a Mar-a-Lago helipad was first approved by the Palm Beach Town Council in 2017 at the beginning of Trump's first term, it came with the condition that the concrete pad had to be removed when Trump left office.
The helipad was used sparsely for presidential business during Trump's first term. In one instance in 2019, the site was used for takeoff and landing for a presidential visit to the Herbert Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee west of Palm Beach.
The original helipadwas demolished in 2021, within weeks of Trump's departure from the White House.
Late last year, Mar-a-Lago representatives came back to Town Hall with the request to reinstall a larger pad to accommodate newer helicopters used to carry the president and White House staff and officials. The Landmarks Preservation Commission, which oversees any exterior changes at landmarked Mar-a-Lago,approved the design for the pad in October.
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The new pad is planned to be 8 inches deep, with an 18-foot-long and 5-foot-wide walkway connected to a nearby service road. The landing area would be on Mar-a-Lago's west lawn, in the same location where it was from 2017 to 2021. Construction is expected to take place this summer.
The town originally said that the pad must be removed after Trump leaves the White House, but another request from the Secret Service under consideration by Palm Beach's council could change that.
Private citizen use of the pad gives mayor 'anxiety'
The Secret Service asked the town to allow the helipad to remain in place while a person protected by the Secret Service is in residence at Mar-a-Lago. The helipad is needed, Mar-a-Lago representative Harvey Oyer told the town council in April, because of ongoing and increasing threats to Trump and his family that could extend past the end of this presidency.
Council members want to establish guardrails for how the pad is used — including rules that would ban club members or others who are not members of law enforcement or the military from using the landing site. Those rules should be established to protect the town and its residents, Oyer said.
"This is not for club use. It's not for club-member use. It's not for private use," he told the council. "It is for governmental use, (Trump's) duties as president and any emergency evacuation by some agency, whether that is Secret Service or White House Military Office or your (police)."
In December of 2017, a private helicopter bearing the Trump logoparked on the helipad for more than a week, prompting outrage from some residents and town officials who called out the use as a violation of the conditions under which the landing site was approved.
The thought that the helipad might be used to accommodate a private aircraft again "gives me anxiety," Palm Beach Mayor Danielle Moore said during the April council meeting. She said she had heard the same from residents who questioned how much the town can control how the helipad is used.
After the end of Trump's presidency, the designation of protectee would be extended only to first ladyMelania Trump, and not to President Trump's children or his extended family, Oyer said.
Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at KCrowley@usatodayco.com. Follow her onX (Twitter),Threads,BlueskyandTikTok.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:After White House ballroom, Trump reportedly considering new helipad
