> Helipad rebuilt at President Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach

President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club has a helipad once more.

As of July 29, concrete had been poured for a helicopter-landing pad on Mar-a-Lago's west lawn, between the palatial private club and the Intracoastal Waterway.

The installation marks the second helipad for Mar-a-Lago. The first was demolished within weeks of the end of Trump's first term in the White House, as a condition of the town's approval of that pad's construction.

Unlike that helipad, the new one likely will remain in place until the president or first lady Melania Trump no longer designate Mar-a-Lago as their official "non-governmental residence." The town's approval to allow the helipad to stay after the president leaves office came with a list of conditions and possible penalties for violations.

After Trump leaves office, the pad may only be used by government aircraft transporting Trump or the first lady for emergency use, and Secret Service personnel must be on-board, the agreement said.

The Secret Service — through Mar-a-Lago — first requested to rebuild the helipad in August 2025. The plan at that time was for the concrete pad to be removed after the end of Trump's time in the White House.

But earlier this year the U.S. Secret Service and White House Military Office cited increasing threats against the chief executive and his family and asked the town to change its conditions of approval to allow the helipad to remain beyond Trump's presidency.
A 60-foot-wide helipad is seen on the west lawn of President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach on July 27.

The council in June approved that request, with a slate of conditions that include the possibility of fines or forced demolition. The helipad may be used only for transporting Trump for business related to the presidency, according to the agreement reached between Palm Beach and Mar-a-Lago and approved by the Town Council on June 9.

Once both Trumps no longer use Mar-a-Lago as their official residence, the helipad must be removed within three months, under the terms of the agreement.

Mar-a-Lago in December paid about $7,746 in fees for the permit to build the new helicopter landing zone, records show.

The new helipad is 60 feet wide, 10 feet wider than the previous pad. A larger pad was needed to accommodate the new helicopters being used by the U.S. Marine Corps for presidential transportation, officials said. The concrete was poured 8 inches deep to withstand the weight of the new helicopters, plans show. The structure includes a walkway that connects the rebuilt pad to a nearby road on the Mar-a-Lago property.

Acreage-based Complete Concrete built the pad, according to a notice of commencement recorded July 10 by the Palm Beach County clerk's office.

Construction of the helipad at Mar-a-Lago follows the addition of a pad to the White House's South Lawn.

For decades, military helicopters transporting the president to and from the White House had landed on temporary landing pads that were placed on the lawn's grass just before a chopper touched down.

Trump has said the temporary pads used at the White House were unable to withstand the weight of the larger helicopters that serve as Marine One, the name used for a military helicopter that carries the president. The new helicopters "ripped up the grass" of the South Lawn, Trump said during a July 6 White House event.

Sikorsky, which made the new helicopters, covered the $5 million to $6 million cost for the White House landing site, Trump said. Sikorsky parent company Lockheed Martin confirmed the contribution to USA Today.

TrumpFU.pngairwolf.gif