Palm Beach County commissioners are considering another $300,000 for outside legal counsel as the county continues its challenge to ongoing TFRs surrounding President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. The proposed amendment would increase the county’s agreement with aviation law firm Kaplan, Kirsch LLP from $322,500 to a maximum of $622,500. County staff said no funding remains under the existing agreement while the litigation continues.
The dispute dates to October 2025, when the FAA established a year-round restriction within 1 nautical mile of Mar-a-Lago and below 2,000 feet, regardless of whether the president was at the property. Previously, presidential TFRs affected the area only when the president was in residence there. The continual restriction also changed procedures at President Donald J. Trump International Airport, formerly Palm Beach International Airport, directing eastbound departures northeast to remain clear of the TFR airspace.
Flight Paths Draw Complaints
County officials say the resulting traffic patterns substantially increased overflights in the El Cid and Flamingo Park neighborhoods of West Palm Beach and parts of the Town of Palm Beach. Commissioner Gregg Weiss has said about 20,000 residents were affected. More than 6,000 noise complaints have been filed since the procedures changed, according to local reporting, compared with fewer than a dozen per month previously. Noise monitors have also been installed in Palm Beach and West Palm Beach to document flight activity.
“I think that they need to speak directly to the public and explain the rationale as to why,” Weiss told WPTV after commissioners voted in December to move forward with the Mar-a-Lago TFR challenge.
The commission voted 4-3 after county attorneys warned that failing to file by a federal deadline could eliminate the county’s opportunity to seek judicial review while it continued negotiations with the FAA and U.S. Secret Service.
Federal Court Challenge
Palm Beach County, the City of West Palm Beach and the Town of Palm Beach are now pursuing the Mar-a-Lago TFR case together in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. In a joint brief filed June 9, the local governments asked the court to vacate the restrictions and related flight procedures. They argue the FAA acted on a Secret Service request without conducting sufficient independent analysis of the effects on the airport and surrounding communities. The filing also challenges the process under federal administrative and environmental laws.
“The genesis of it was communication from the Secret Service to the FAA requesting that this perimeter exclusion zone be established.” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told the Washington Examiner in an interview published Monday.
Bedford said the Secret Service did not provide the FAA with the intelligence behind the request. He also said the agency has since redesigned procedures around Mar-a-Lago to reduce noise in affected neighborhoods.
The FAA filed its response to the court challenge Aug. 11, and the local governments’ reply is due Sept. 1, according to the Town of Palm Beach. The county’s proposed $300,000 increase for outside counsel related to the Mar-a-Lago case appears on Tuesday’s commission consent agenda. The underlying Kaplan, Kirsch agreement runs through September 2027.
The affected residents should put up their own money to pay the high-priced lawyer. Dont need to spend our Palm Beach County tax dollars fighting city hall on an issue that benefits few. There are obvious security threats, and no other president has been targeted by crazy lunatics more than DJT. So get real and waste your own money fighting the needed TFR.
Alternatively, the President could actually consider the People and at a minimum not worry about his property unless he is there, or he could avoid it all together during the remainder of his occupancy of DC. It is still an assault on airspace control we should all be concerned about.
How odd, I don’t remember you getting your panties in a bunch when the Kenyan or sleepy Joe were having TFRs set up everywhere they traveled, and Biden was on vacation 40% of the time in Delaware. It’s a national security issue, and turning a minuscule TFR on and off like a faucet will only ensnare dozens of pilots who stumble into it not knowing when it is active or not.
IMHO, this points out the air space grab since 9/11. Pre 9/11, there were restricted area by presidential residences only when the president was there. Reasonable. However, before President Trump was President, we always had to do a ‘noise abatement’ profile over his place is Palm Beach (guess money talks).
Now it’s all restricted if there’s a hint of anything. Prior to 9/11 any reasonable pilot could fly into DCA, not anymore
We need to push back. Not saying there’s no threat, but the knee jerk to an extreme after 9/11 has to end.
Unless the president is there, no TFR. I’d go as far as to say that any incumbent president gets to pick one location. DJT has Mar a largo, and his club in NJ. It’s time for the politicians to remember they work for us, not the other away around
Rant off
I agree, especially since ‘temporary’ is a focus of the Feds at this time. And of course the key to avoidance of a TFR is briefing and situational awareness, skills we are trained in and practice routinely.
The TFR is a one mile radius and 2000 feet high, and half of it is out over the water. Altered flight plans might cause noise for neighborhood “A”, but the people in neighborhood “B” get to enjoy a respite for four years. There isn’t any NEW or ADDITIONAL noise. This Presidential TFR is roughly 1/10th the size of the Mickey Mouse TFR and 1000 feet lower. It is the most minuscule Presidential TFR considering the 30 mile and 18,000 feet we all have to watch out for whenever a president travels. Wouldn’t they love it if the FAA said “Okay, no TFR when the president is gone, but when he’s here the TFR is 30 miles and the airport is shut down”. This is just people who desperately need to say “I hate anything this guy does, and I will spend other people’s money to make Orange Man suffer”.
Very good rant, I agree with every point. Politicians have to realize the hardship all these TFR’s create to local businesses ensnared within the airspace and ground restrictions. There are businesses that are starting to reject having political conventions in their area because of all the restrictions that come with it. Does no good to have security restrictions for business that actually reduce business revenues. If security is such a concern, stay in the White House. As far as other politicians in Congress, those persons volunteered to be elected. If you can’t accept the security risk that goes with the office without blanking out airspace or areas on the ground then resign your office.
Although you may be correct, there is a principle involved as far as TFR’s are concerned. The government keeps issuing TFR’s for every little thing, where does it stop? Don’t misunderstand, I have little sympathy for those who live close to an airport who complain about noise. But if we don’t take action to stop these alleged “security” TFR’s, we won’t have any airspace to fly in at all!
But does it really need to be active when he’s not there?
Did you actually read the article? Do you really think Palm Beach County is woke? They just changed the name of their airport to honor him. West Palm Beach is filled with very rich people that don’t like to pay taxes, they worship him! Go back and read the article again.
Yes, I did read the article. From a pilot’s perspective the TFR is very small and low to the ground, so it only affects the traffic pattern. Not worth complaining about if you are an aviator. The article cites some 6,000 noise complaints because of the slightly modified departure path. If you live one mile from the departure end of a class C runway and suddenly start complaining about noise, I suspect opportunism. If you have a presidential TFR that does not restrict a single airport even though you have 3 within a 15 mile radius, but you spend half a million dollars on a frivolous lawsuit, that sounds like TDS. Yes they did rename the airport after Trump, but it wasn’t the locals who did that, it was the state.