Trump, Mar-a-Lago search: Whatever the FBI found, they were sure to encounter security and opulence

Former President Donald Trump dropped a bombshell Monday evening when he announced that the FBI had executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, although he provided no details about the bureau’s intent.

Under the law, any search would need to be authorized by a federal judge after finding probable cause that a crime had been committed and that evidence of the crime exists in the location to be searched.

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Trump and Mar-a-Lago: How big is it, is it open to the public and security breaches

It’s safe to say that any agents who descended Monday on The Mar-a-Lago Club – where Trump maintains his primary home – found themselves inside one of the most secure spots in Palm Beach.

Here’s why.

Mar-a-Lago is built like a fortress

The structure is anchored deep into the coral stone below it and has walls 3-feet thick in some places. The mansion-turned-private-club was built in the 1920s by cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, who at the time was married to stockbroker E.F. Hutton. Since then, the building has weathered hurricanes and severe storms but has never suffered major structural damage.

Secret Service agents remain on site

During the Trump administration, the Secret Service and other security details addressed multiple challenges presented by the historic estate. As a former president, Trump continues to receive protective services from the Secret Service, although on a reduced scale.

With walls on three sides, the 17.5-acre property has a relatively exposed location immediately adjacent to the Southern Boulevard Bridge, with two sides fronting the street. The estate also has a 600-foot sea wall fronting an easily accessible stretch of the Intracoastal Waterway, as well as a stretch of oceanfront serving its Beach Club. A tunnel beneath South Ocean Boulevard connects the bulk of the property to the beach.

The main part of the club is closed during the summer, although the private beach club on the east side of South Ocean Boulevard has maintained partial summer hours for members and their guests.

Road was closed to through-traffic during Trump's presidency

During Trump’s stays at Mar-a-Lago while president, the stretch of the coastal road in front of the club was closed to through-traffic, with tight checkpoints set up to screen drivers and passengers who either lived in the adjacent neighborhood or were attending events at the club. The roadway today is no longer closed when Trump is in residence at the club.

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The exact details of other security measures during Trump’s presidency were kept tightly under wraps, although the Intracoastal Waterway and the beachfront were regularly patrolled by boats.

Any FBI agents who entered the club Monday no doubt found themselves amid elaborately decorated rooms, thanks to the restoration carried out by Trump after he bought the mansion — with more than 100 rooms — in 1985, with more work carried out before his club opened about a decade later.

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If the agents entered through the main entrance off the porte-cochere, they would have passed through an arch with a wrought-iron grille glass door and into the entrance hall, with its antique Havermeyer tiles, Spanish lanterns and coats of arms. Then it was into the living room, with its stately fireplace and soaring gilt-covered ceiling, an adaptation of the “Thousand Wing Ceiling” found at Venice’s Accademia. The nearby dining room replicates the 16th-century original at Rome’s Palazzo Chigi.

Trump family calls the club home

The public rooms and grounds are Mar-a-Lago's showpieces, but the property also is home to the private quarters where the Trump family spends time during their stays. Those areas are off-limits to the vast majority of visitors to Mar-a-Lago – but presumably not to FBI agents armed with a search warrant.

Darrell Hofheinz is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at dhofheinz@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Trump, FBI raid: Mar-a-Lago, one of the most secure spots in Palm Beach