Florida Budget Fight Leaves Doral Police Holding the Tab for Trump Security

Florida lawmakers are deadlocked over who should help foot the bill for policing a sitting president's golf resort — and Doral's taxpayers are caught in the middle.

Days into the Legislature's budget Special Session, which began Tuesday and runs through May 29, the House and Senate remain sharply divided over a $750,000 request from the city of Doral to offset mounting overtime costs for its Police Department during visits by President Donald Trump and other dignitaries to Trump National Doral Miami. The House is proposing $375,000 — half the city's ask. The Senate has offered nothing.

The standoff carries direct implications for Treasure Coast taxpayers who share a state budget with every competing priority in Tallahassee. When security costs pile up at a private resort and no funding materializes, the math eventually falls on local governments — and local taxpayers — alone.

Doral has already committed $500,000 in city funds toward what officials project as a $1.25 million total security expense and is asking the state to cover the remaining 60 percent. Nearly all of it would go toward officer overtime. Miami Springs Sen. Bryan Ávila and Hialeah Rep. Alex Rizo filed the appropriations requests, with lobbyist Heather Turnbull of Rubin Turnbull & Associates working the effort.

Doral Police Chief Edwin Lopez signed off on the requests before accepting the top job at the Miami Police Department. They came months after Ryan Routh was sentenced to life in prison for attempting to shoot Trump at his West Palm Beach golf club in September 2024 — an episode that intensified security operations across Trump's Florida properties.

The pressure at Doral has been visible. During this year's PGA Tour Cadillac Championship, tournament winner Cameron Young described the resort as "crawling" with agents and police, with some security personnel blocking his usual path to the locker room.

This is not the first time the state has been asked to share the cost. Lawmakers approved $250,000 for similar Doral protection expenses last year — all of which Gov. Ron DeSantis later vetoed.

The city said that if the funds are approved this year, it does not expect to seek recurring state support in future years. Ávila and Rizo did not respond to requests for comment before publication.

The Legislature's budget conference must resolve the House-Senate gap before May 29.

This article was generated with AI assistance using publicly available information. It was reviewed and approved by a human editor before publication. TC Sentinel uses AI writing tools in accordance with FTC guidelines.