Air defense systems deployed at Mar-a-Lago as intelligence memo to Rubio warns of advanced Iranian plots

The U.S. military has deployed ground-based air defense systems in and around Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump's Palm Beach home, at the request of the Secret Service, officials confirmed to WPTV on Friday, Oct. 23. The disclosure came the same day that the nation's top intelligence official warned Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Floridian, that Iran has "substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel," with some plots reaching advanced stages.

The two developments land on a Palm Beach that has spent most of this year living with the security footprint of the president's frequent visits and of the war with Iran that began in February: closed coastal roads, restricted airspace and fighter jets chasing stray small planes.

What officials confirmed about the air defenses

A spokesperson for the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command told WPTV that "at the request of the U.S. Secret Service," the commands "deployed ground-based air defense assets in and around Mar-a-Lago, Florida." Citing security considerations, the spokesperson said the military could not provide specifics on tactics, techniques or procedures and referred further questions to the Secret Service.

WPTV shot video of the new defense equipment at President Donald J. Trump International Airport in West Palm Beach. Palm Beach Post photographs from Trump's arrival on Friday show two U.S. Army Humvee-based Avenger short-range air defense systems set up beside Mar-a-Lago, with the Coast Guard patrolling the Intracoastal Waterway during his stay. The Avenger is a mobile launcher designed to shoot down low-flying aircraft, drones and cruise missiles at short range.

Neither NORAD nor the Secret Service said when the systems arrived or how long they will remain.

The intelligence memo to Rubio

Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton wrote in an unclassified memo to Rubio on Friday that the United States "received intelligence that Iran has substantially increased efforts to target U.S. personnel," Scripps News reported, after a U.S. official confirmed the memo's authenticity. The memo, first reported by Axios, said Iranian "lethal plotting efforts" against U.S. citizens "have reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries."

The warning helps explain a series of diplomatic moves this week. On Wednesday, officials confirmed the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia was placed on "ordered departure" status, requiring all non-emergency personnel to leave, as attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels escalated, according to Scripps. Other U.S. embassies in the region already operating under a new "restricted operating status" also sent some staff home in recent days.

U.S. officials had first described those staffing changes as mostly a response to the Houthis. A U.S. official told Scripps on Friday that "the threat of Houthi attacks and of Iranian terror plots targeting U.S. officials" are both informing staffing decisions.

The memo does not mention Mar-a-Lago, and officials have not publicly tied the Palm Beach air defense deployment to any specific threat.

The Iran war behind the warnings

The United States and Israel have been at war with Iran and its regional allies since Feb. 28, when U.S. and Israeli air strikes, code-named Operation Epic Fury by the U.S. government, hit targets across Iran and killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Iran answered with missile and drone attacks on Israel and U.S. bases and closed the Strait of Hormuz. A ceasefire that began April 8 frayed within days; a memorandum to end the war signed in June gave way to renewed fighting, and a later ceasefire collapsed on July 8 after Iran attacked commercial ships in the strait. In September, Houthi forces in Yemen escalated in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, followed in October by a wave of drone and missile strikes on Saudi Arabia.

Speaking at a campaign rally in Fort Myers on Friday, Trump said "we may do another little Epic Fury," WPTV's Scripps report noted, although the president and White House officials had suggested earlier this month that no further strikes on Iran would come before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

Iranian threats against Trump himself are not new. In November 2024, the Justice Department charged Farhad Shakeri, who prosecutors said was an asset of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in an alleged plot to kill Trump before he took office. Shakeri, who has not been arrested and is believed to be in Iran, has not been convicted.

Trump's Palm Beach visits this fall

Trump flew into West Palm Beach on Friday after the Fort Myers rally for an overnight stay at Mar-a-Lago before a trip to Georgia, The Palm Beach Post reported. It is his second Palm Beach visit of the season, following a stay from Oct. 16 to 18, according to the Palm Beach Daily News. Palm Beach County Sheriff's deputies checked vehicles before they crossed the bridge toward Mar-a-Lago on Friday in the rain, blocked traffic and led the motorcade, the Post reported.

The security posture has been heavy before. Last season, the stretch of road beside the club stayed closed for roughly two months, with the Secret Service citing "enhanced security measures" after the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran, according to the Palm Beach Daily News.

What it means for Palm Beach residents and pilots

The town of Palm Beach announced that South Ocean Boulevard, the coastal road beside Mar-a-Lago, would close between the Southern Boulevard traffic circle and South County Road starting at 5 a.m. Friday "until further notice." The security zone runs about seven blocks, roughly half a mile, north of the club. Residents, workers and visitors with business inside the zone can enter only through the north checkpoint at South County Road after showing identification, and the closure splits the town, forcing some drivers to detour off the island and back to get across it, according to the Palm Beach Daily News.

Bridge traffic changes too. During presidential visits, the Coast Guard sets openings for the Flagler Memorial, Southern Boulevard and Royal Park bridges on fixed schedules, and the Southern Boulevard Bridge can close without notice for motorcades. The Florida Department of Transportation installed traffic signals in the area on Oct. 13 "as part of law enforcement activity," the paper reported.

Overhead, the Federal Aviation Administration issues temporary flight restrictions around Mar-a-Lago during presidential stays, as it did for the Oct. 16 to 18 visit. Pilots who stray into them are a recurring problem. NORAD told WPTV in early October that its fighters have intercepted more than 60 aircraft that violated restrictions around Palm Beach since Trump returned to office in January 2025. NORAD officials have said most of those cases involve pilot mistakes rather than deliberate threats. In one March incident, F-16s intercepted a civilian plane that entered the restricted zone and deployed flares to get the pilot's attention.

The ground-based systems add a new layer to that airspace defense, closer to the property itself, though officials have not said whether they change any rules for pilots or boaters.

What's next

The Secret Service, which requested the deployment, has not described how long the air defense systems will stay or whether they will be in place for future visits. The South Ocean Boulevard closure remains in effect until further notice, and Palm Beach residents should expect the road, bridge and airspace restrictions to return each time the president comes back this season. In Washington, U.S. officials say they constantly evaluate new security information in deciding embassy staffing in the Middle East, while the White House has not said whether new strikes on Iran are planned before or after the Nov. 3 election.