Trump National Golf Club Bedminster was supposed to be spending its final weekend of LIV Golf New York on business as usual, a new investor lined up to keep the league alive, US President Donald Trump himself mingling with PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan and Gary Player in the clubhouse. Then, on August 9, two aircraft flew into the restricted airspace overhead, and NORAD scrambled F-16 fighter jets to chase them down.
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Footage posted by Insider Wire on X shows the moment of interception: an F-16 closing in on one of the aircraft near Jefferson Township, well outside the club itself.
NORAD first said multiple aircraft were involved. The 1st Air Force’s Air Forces Northern later narrowed that to two civilian planes that had crossed into the Temporary Flight Restriction. So far, nobody’s said who was flying them or why. Both were escorted out without incident, and there’s been no sign of any threat to Trump or the crowd.
The airspace was subject to a presidential TFR under VIP type. The Federal Aviation Administration established the restrictions and had already made the announcement on its website. Some U.S. Army ground based defense assets were also reported to be present in the area.
The Secret Service treats any unauthorized aircraft near the president as a threat until it proves otherwise, since there’s no way to tell a lost pilot from something worse in the time it takes to intercept one.
The TFR, set by the FAA and centered on the club, covered a 30-nautical-mile radius and barred general aviation below 18,000 feet within 10 nautical miles of the center. The aircraft were caught and pushed out near Jefferson Township, about 20 miles away, which is where NORAD intercepted them, not where they first crossed into restricted airspace.
It’s the second such breach in three weeks. On July 19, during the FIFA World Cup, more than 10 general-aviation aircraft entered restricted airspace over Bedminster and East Rutherford; three required military interception, and flares were used twice. Neither incident caused any injuries, but two breaches over the same corridor in a month is enough to raise the question of whether pilots are missing the NOTAMs, or whether the restrictions just aren’t cutting through.
It wasn’t the only close call that week. A few days earlier, a man was arrested at Trump’s Los Angeles golf club for photographing federal agents while they worked security.
Man arrested at Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles
A 38-year-old Downey, California man identified as Jeanine John Taele was arrested at Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles in Rancho Palos Verdes on Sunday, August 2, two days before Trump was expected there for a Republican National Committee dinner. Taele had been seen at the club days earlier photographing federal agents as they assessed security, and was found carrying a firearm and wanted on an unrelated robbery charge.
There’s no indication the Bedminster aircraft had anything to do with Taele, or with each other. But taken together, the arrest and the breach are the kind of week that keeps a protective detail from ever fully standing down.
