All aircraft are now banned from operating within a 1 nm radius of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in South Florida.
In a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) issued on October 18, the FAA established a restricted zone south of downtown Palm Beach, which roughly corresponds to Mar-a-Lago’s location. The NOTAM cited “special security reasons.”
The ban will stay in place until at least October 20, 2026.
Any pilot seeking to fly through the area must obtain permission and be granted a special flight plan, which includes a discreet air code assigned by air traffic control. The aircraft must squawk this discrete code at all times while in the restricted airspace.
Drone operators were warned that noncompliance with the NOTAM could result in the “interference, disruption, seizure, damaging, or destruction of unmanned aircraft deemed to pose a credible safety or security threat to protected personnel.”
The FAA has temporarily banned flying over Mar-a-Lago before, but those restrictions usually came into effect when Trump was at the resort. This new ban will remain in place 24 hours, seven days a week until its expiration, even when the president is not there.
A pilot told the Palm Beach Daily News this week that the FAA’s order will affect operations at nearby Palm Beach International Airport (KPBI). Departing and arriving aircraft may have to use different runways to keep clear of the president’s Florida home, he said.
Since Trump’s election victory in November 2024, there have been numerous instances of private pilots violating temporary FAA restrictions and flying over both Mar-a-Lago and Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. In some cases, they were intercepted and escorted away by fighter jets.
