100 days of Trump: 3 key changes impacting people across America
100 days after returning to power, Donald Trump is charging ahead with tariffs, an immigration crackdown and federal cuts, including dismantling DEI.
- The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” appropriates $300 million for security reimbursements to communities where Trump has properties.
- Expenses incurred on or after July 1, 2024, would be eligible for reimbursement.
- The U.S. Secret Service heightened security measures at all of Trump’s properties after a July 13, 2024, assassination attempt in Pennsylvania.
Palm Beach intends to seek federal reimbursement for costs related to providing security during President Donald Trump’s visits to Mar-a-Lago.
Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Michael Ogrodnick said the town will apply for compensation for protection costs through a provision in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” the federal law signed by Trump July 4 that outlines his second-term tax and spending priorities.
The legislation allocates $300 million for security reimbursements to local and state law enforcement agencies when Trump visits properties such as his Bedminster estate in New Jersey or Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach.
Expenses incurred on or after July 1, 2024, would be eligible for reimbursement. Exactly how much law enforcement agencies will receive has yet to be determined.
“We are planning to apply, and we will seek reimbursement for all costs associated with presidential and Mar-A-Lago security starting from July 1, 2024,” Ogrodnick told the Daily News July 22.
Local law enforcement agencies that protect Trump when he is in on the island include the Palm Beach Police Department, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and the city of West Palm Beach Police Department.
All three agencies have long sought federal reimbursement for millions spent providing security for the president.
While the U.S. Secret Service handles presidential protection, local agencies assist with motorcade routes and perimeter security.
In a Jan. 14 letter to Palm Beach County’s congressional delegation, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said that PBSO could spend $45 million on overtime costs related to Trump’s protection from July 20, 2024 through Sept. 30, 2025.
“PBSO remains steadfast in its commitment to assist with presidential protection activities as requested by the United States Secret Service,” Bradshaw wrote. “That being said, the designation of a federal funding source is critical to offset the very considerable expenses the Agency has incurred to date, and expects to incur moving forward.”
Bradshaw’s letter came in response to an earlier request made jointly with Palm Beach Mayor Danielle Moore and Palm Beach County Commissioner and then-Mayor Maria Sachs in a Sept. 10, 2024, letter to Palm Beach County’s congressional delegation.
In their letter, which was sent two months after an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania campaign rally left one dead and injured Trump and two others, Bradshaw, Moore and Sachs noted that Palm Beach spent up to $3,600 a day providing protection to Trump, while the Sheriff’s Office spent about $93,000 per day.
The Secret Service heightened security measures at all of Trump’s properties after the assassination attempt.
That increase included establishing a security zone at Mar-a-Lago when Trump is home. As part of that security zone, South Ocean Boulevard is closed from South County Road to the Southern Boulevard traffic circle.
PBSO deputies staff checkpoints leading up to and within the security zone, and the Palm Beach Police Department keeps an officer stationed at Mar-a-Lago as well.
“The Palm Beach Police Department is hopeful that the federal government will reimburse us for the costs we have expended on assisting with protection-related activities at Mar-a-Lago, as unbudgeted costs are always a concern for an efficient government,” then-Palm Beach Police spokesman Capt. Will Rothrock told the Daily News in January. “Our participation in this effort is important to the safety of our residents and U.S. Secret Service-protected persons.”
During Trump’s first term in the White House, Congress approved the Presidential Residence Protection Assistance Grant, administrated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. That grant is no longer available.
Trump’s first 100 days of his current term included more trips and days at Mar-a-Lago than in his prior term eight years ago. Through April 29, the president visited his Palm Beach County home and golf clubs nine times, staying for all or part of 31 days. He returned again May 1–4 for another four days.
The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” creates a $300 million fund, administered by FEMA, to reimburse eligible jurisdictions for expenses through Sept. 30, 2029.
Reimbursement applies to “extraordinary law enforcement personnel costs for protection activities directly and demonstrably associated with any residence of the President” under Secret Service authority.
Ogrodnick said the town’s costs for presidential security vary from year to year depending on a number of variables, including the length and number of stays. Those costs were not immediately available.
Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
