The route to Mar-a-Lago was once one of the more reliable measures of Trump’s grassroots support, with supporters lining the roads every weekend to wave flags and cheer the motorcade through Palm Beach County. Reporters covering his visits this season noticed that the dynamic had shifted, with the crowds thinning and the roadside energy that characterized his first term largely absent from his second.
Trump has made 27 visits to Mar-a-Lago since returning to the White House. Security around the club has grown increasingly restrictive, with South Ocean Boulevard near the club closed entirely from March 3 to May 4 by order of the Secret Service.
The closure was attributed to the Iran war and heightened threats following the Correspondents’ Dinner shooting.
Security accounts for some of the change, but not all of it. Parking lots near the Southern Boulevard Bridge, once a popular free viewing spot for the motorcade, were converted to paid spots in 2024.
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The combination of road closures, paid parking, and post-shooting security protocols has made the spontaneous roadside gathering considerably more difficult than it used to be. Whether that fully explains the thinner crowds is a question the data does not answer cleanly.
The political signals in Palm Beach County are even harder to brush off as logistics.
A Democrat named Emily Gregory won a state House seat in the district where Mar-a-Lago is located, defeating a Trump-endorsed Republican in what was described as a surprising upset.
Trump had posted on Truth Social, urging supporters to vote for his candidate in all capitals. Gregory won anyway and is now talking openly about Democrats flipping the governor’s mansion in November. “I believe that, after November, we will no longer be in a super minority,” she said.
The Mar-a-Lago area itself has been through its own transformation this season. Southern Boulevard, the four-mile stretch between Palm Beach International Airport and the club, was renamed President Donald J. Trump Boulevard in January.
The airport itself is being renamed Donald J. Trump International Airport, with a new entirely gold logo recommended by the Trump Organization. The infrastructure carries his name in every direction.
Protesters have partially filled the void left by the thinner supporter turnout. Thousands turned out across eight Palm Beach County locations on March 28 for No Kings demonstrations.
No Kings protest West Palm Beach, Florida Donald Trump’s backyard. #NoKings #HelpingSean
Please share Sean’s campaign link. He is fighting brain cancer, and needs your help. https://t.co/s2g60hYeUE pic.twitter.com/lp0B0TTppU
— Desert Storm Vet (@rhovis67) March 29, 2026
A confrontation near the golf club in February led to the arrest of a 76-year-old man carrying a “Not My President” flag. The energy on the route has not disappeared. It has, in places, switched sides.
Featured image via X screengrab
