Donald Trump's Summer White House May Be In N.J., And It Could Be Costly

New Jersey may become the new summer retreat for the president of the United States. But it won't come without possible controversy and a high cost.

President Trump is expected to shift his weekend plans north to his Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, local officials say, and at least one noted the list of potential troublesome issues that could impact the community.

Bedminster Mayor Steve Parker said his community has been in discussions with the White House and "everybody believes it will" be home to Trump's weekends in the summer.

Efforts to obtain comment from the White House and Secret Service were not immediately successful.

Trump has used the Mar-a-Lago resort club in Florida for his weekend getaways, but the summer heat in the Sunshine State could apparently deter him to spend weekends within an hour's drive of Trump Tower.

For Parker, the most important thing is to be prepared for the possible move - both logistically and financially.

He said the Trump club has been a very good neighbor to people in Bedminster. "But this is about our taxpayers not having to pay a disproportionate share of the bill," he said, while making sure the community is a secure and safe place for the president.

Parker said the Trump club is the second largest taxpayer in the community, behind AT&T.

According to Parker, some of the potential issues that could come to New Jersey and Bedminister include:

• Street closures and traffic jams were a problem last fall - and not just in Bedminister, but across the region — when Trump traveled to Bedminster by motorcade from midtown Manhattan for interviews with potential Cabinet nominees.
• Trump’s three-day trip to Bedminster last November as president-elect cost $3,800 in local police overtime, and his summer visits could run the tab up to more than $300,000.
• Some long-time residents have already started complaining about it and say they're apprehensive about the potential traffic jams and cost to the community. "We’re kind of apprehensive, I guess you could say,” Nick Strakhov, a retired telecommunications professional and longtime resident who serves on the Bedminster land use board, told Politico. “It’s nice to be recognized. But on the other hand, if it gets to be tedious, we might start to complain.”

Local officials say they’re expecting the president to travel either via a smaller 757 version of Air Force One into Morristown, or to fly into Newark Liberty International Airport and then use Marine One to get to his club.

Those travel arrangements could present another problem for Parker, who runs the local Somerset Airport. When Trump is in town, planes would be grounded because there's a no-fly-zone around any sitting president.

Republican U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance has asked the United States Department of Justice to cover the costs of security required to protect Trump, his family and dignitaries when they visit Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster. Lance's letter was sent in response to Parker's letter to Lance from last fall asking for help.

"We in Bedminster Township are flattered that our new President enjoys spending time in Bedminster as much as our residents," Parker wrote to Lance, according to Bernards Township Regional Chamber of Commerce. "We want to welcome President Trump with open arms, but don't wish to burden our taxpayers disproportionately for these visits."

Some local merchants, on the other hand, are happy about the possibility of Trump spending weekends in New Jersey.

Steve Desiderio, who owns Desiderio's Market and Catering on Main Street, told NPR that the Trump transition team spent a weekend in November interviewing potential Cabinet members at Trump National Golf Club.

"When he was in town it really helped the business, with a lot of the Secret Service and the reporters and people coming in," Desiderio told NPR.

YouTube video/photo of Trump, Mitt Romney and Vice President Mike Pence in Bedminster