With temperatures in West Palm Beach already in the mid-80s, officials in Somerset County are bracing for the possibility Donald Trump with switch his weekend White House northward.
BEDMINSTER TWP. - Will he or won't he?
Will the president of the United States spend his summer weekends in Bedminster?
And if he does, who's going to pay for it?
With temperatures in West Palm Beach already in the mid-80s and the social season there nearly over, officials in Somerset County are bracing for the possibility Donald Trump will switch his weekend White House northward, to his golf course here.
It's already clear he won't make abundant use of Camp David, the traditional - and secure - summer retreat for presidents.
Shortly after taking office, Trump told a group of foreign journalists, "Camp David is very rustic, it's nice, you'd like it. You know how long you'd like it? For about 30 minutes."
Although he also owns golfing properties in suburban Virginia, Briarcliff Manor in Westchester County, N.Y, and Colts Neck, he chose the Bedminster club as the place to interview prospective cabinet members there shortly after the election.
In town, the assumption is that Trump - a creature of habit - will be spending at least some weekends in New Jersey this summer.
"Nobody's officially told me it's going to happen on this date or that," said Mayor Steve Parker. "I think we're preparing, assuming that it's going to happen."
The township still hasn't heard back from the federal government on its request for reimbursement for the cost of guarding the golf course. While the U.S. Secret Service provides protection of any building that a president visits, along with its immediate surroundings, it usually asks local law enforcement to secure the adjoining roadways, security experts have said.
Since Bedminster's police force is small, such round-the-clock duties trigger a lot of overtime. In its request for reimbursement, the township estimated it could spend as much as $302,000 a year to cover just seven Trump family visits a year.
The township recently passed its $6.6 million municipal budget - one that did not include extra expenses for police overtime to guard the president. The reason was simple: officials there have to abide by a 2 percent cap on the overall budget increase.
"We didn't blow our two-percent cap on things the federal government might cover," he said.
While the president has surprised Washington with the frequency of his trips to Mar-A-Lago, acquaintances have said he's simply doing what he's always done in the winter, spending his weekends in Florida.
The question being asked in Bedminster now is, does that mean he'll now come to Trump National a lot? Trump has praised the property and his neighbors, but it remains unknown at this point if that will translate into frequent summer visits during his administration.
"He spent an awful lot of time there before (he ran for office)," Parker said. "It seems to be a place that as a private citizen he enjoyed a lot. I can't give you any numbers, because nobody tracked it. But anecdotally, he spent a lot of time there."
The club prides itself as being family-friendly, holding summer camp sessions specializing in golf, tennis and swimming for children ages 9 through 16 - which could prove to be a draw for Trump's youngest son, Barron, who continued to live at Trump Tower in Manhattan with his mother since the inauguration.
In addition, it plays host to the U.S. Women's Open in mid-July.
While the main clubhouse is the former estate manor of maverick carmaker John DeLorean, the club also has stables that were converted to "bungalows" so members can spend the night there.
While New Jersey commuters were inconvenienced when then-president-elect Trump came by motorcade to the course last November - briefly closing down the Lincoln Tunnel and portions of I-78, that scenario is unlikely to be repeated now that he's president.
The reason? Trump National has a helipad. Now that Trump is president, however, flight security rules would be considerably more stringent than the three-mile airspace buffer zone in effect when he was the mere nominee.
President Trump would likely fly into either Newark Liberty International Airport or Morristown Airport, then arrive in Bedminster by Marine One helicopter.
There would be a no-fly ring of 10 miles around the club for the duration of his visit. For that inner ring, no flights can enter or leave without formal TSA screening, according to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
Other flight restrictions would be imposed on a wider ring of 30 miles that would limit flight training, sightseeing, and other aviation activities, according to the group.
Kathleen O'Brien may be reached at kobrien@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @OBrienLedger. Find NJ.com on Facebook.