Just How Secure Is Mar-a-Lago, House Oversight Chairman Asks

Just How Secure Is Mar-a-Lago, House Oversight Chairman Asks
The Mar-a-Lago Resort is seen where President Donald Trump is hosting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Feb. 11, 2017. The two are scheduled to get in a game of golf as well as discuss trade issues. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
|Updated:

WASHINGTON—House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz wants to know more about the security measures at Mar-a-Lago, which President Donald Trump calls the “Winter White House.”

The Utah Republican asked White House chief of staff Reince Priebus to describe the security protocols in place to protect sensitive information while the president is at the Palm Beach, Florida, resort that he owns and has visited two weekends in a row.

Chaffetz’s letter to Priebus, dated Tuesday, comes after news reports described a Saturday powwow between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after North Korea launched a missile. The leaders were at a terrace restaurant that was in full view—and earshot—of Mar-a-Lago members.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer reiterated Tuesday what he'd said earlier about Trump not receiving or reviewing any classified material at the dinner table. House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday that was also his understanding.

President Donald Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (2nd-L), his wife Akie Abe (R), US First Lady Melania Trump (L) and Robert Kraft (2nd-L),owner of the New England Patriots, sit down for dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort on Feb. 10, 2017. (NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (2nd-L), his wife Akie Abe (R), US First Lady Melania Trump (L) and Robert Kraft (2nd-L),owner of the New England Patriots, sit down for dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort on Feb. 10, 2017. NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images