Palm Beach officials could push to shut down Mar-a-Lago in dispute about road closures near Trump compound

Indefinite, round-the-clock road closures around Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago compound are frustrating Palm Beach officials and residents to the point that the Florida club and residence could be forced to shut down.

On Tuesday, Palm Beach Council directed town staff to study what could be done about the month-long shutdown, which has closed off surrounding roads in the wake of the attempted assassination of the Republican presidential nominee.

“In my mind, if the road is closed, the Mar-a-Lago Club is closed,” Mayor Danielle Moore told the council, according to thePalm Beach Post, when asked what will happen when traffic is expected to increase during a busier fall season.

“There’s no way in God’s green earth that they can bring 350 people into that club,” Moore said. “It’s completely illogical that you’ve got a road closed and then you’re going to let 350 strangers into your club.”

The property, Trump’s primary residence, cannot sustain hundreds of guests while Secret Service is significantly ramping up security, Moore argued.

“You can’t have it both ways, boys and girls,” according to Moore. “Either the club’s open or not.”

Officials have directed town staff to explore their legal options. Town attorney Joanne O’Conner has sent a letter to the Secret Service to “provide the legal authority authorizing it to implement the road closure for the specified duration and even when protectee(s) are not in residence in the Town.”

The closure, O’Conner wrote, “effectively cuts the Town in two.”

Secret Service directed road closures after a 20-year-old gunman fired an AR-15 at the former president while he was speaking on a campaign rally stage in Pennsylvania on July 13. The closure went into effect on July 20, part of a series of