• Camp David has been a destination for presidential rest and relaxation since it opened.
• The camp has also been the site of meetings and summits with various world leaders over the years.
• Camp David has been the site of some big national and foreign policy decisions.

Nestled in the countryside of Maryland, in the Catoctin Mountain Park, is the presidential country retreat known as Camp David.

The first parts of the complex were built by the Works Progress Administration in 1935, and Franklin D. Roosevelt made it the presidential retreat. FDR originally named the property "Shangri-La," a name it kept until the Eisenhower administration, who named it Camp David after his grandson.

The compound has expanded over the years, with new cabins being built and even a pool. It has also been the site of diplomatic events like the Camp David Accords in 1978 and the G8 summit in 2012.

Here's a look inside Camp David, where presidents go to escape Washington.

The original name of Camp David was Shangri-La, the name of a fictional Himalayan paradise in the 1933 novel "Lost Horizon."

When President Dwight D. Eisenhower took office, he renamed the property "Camp David," after his father and grandson who had the same name.

By the end of the Eisenhower administration, Camp David looked like this. The president's cabin — Aspen Lodge — was originally called the Bear's Den by FDR.

From the beginning, Camp David gave presidents a chance to enjoy the countryside.

Here, FDR and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill fish in the woods around "Shangri La." The two men reportedly planned the D-Day invasion from a porch on one of the cabins.

Since Camp David is in the Catoctin Mountain Park, it has a number of trails around it that presidents and their families can enjoy.

Horseback riding is also a common activity for the trails, as seen here with President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George Bush.

Originally, the pool at Camp David was far from Aspen Lodge. President Lyndon B. Johnson can be seen enjoying the pool with family, friends, and staff.

Here's another shot of Johnson at the Camp David pool.

President Richard Nixon added a pool behind the Aspen Lodge in the 1970s. President Barack Obama apparently still enjoyed it decades later.

Obama White House photographer Pete Souza snapped a number of great behind-the-scenes shots of life at Camp David, which also has tennis and basketball courts.

As well as a pool table.

Camp David can provide a relaxing setting for presidents to do their work, away from the chaos of Washington.

Many presidents have spent Christmas at Camp David.

It's pretty nice in winter too.

President Jimmy Carter turned Camp David into a place where diplomacy was conducted, like the landmark Camp David Accords in 1978.

Like Carter, President Bill Clinton used Camp David as a location for talks between Israel and Palestine.

Obama also used Camp David as a place for diplomatic events.

In 2012, he hosted the leaders of the G8 nations at Camp David.

It's not all work, though. European leaders took a break during the 2012 G8 to watch the overtime shootout of the Chelsea vs. Bayern Munich Champions League final.

President Donald Trump visited Camp David five times in his first year in office, calling it "a very special place" in one tweet.

In January 2018, Trump brought senior Republicans to Camp David for a leadership retreat.

During his presidency, Trump frequented his properties more than Camp David.

Before taking office, Trump once told a German journalist in an interview, "Camp David is very rustic, it's nice, you'd like it. You know how long you'd like it? For about 30 minutes."

By August 2020, Trump had made 500 visits to his properties. Of those 500, Trump had visited Mar-A-Lago 134 times. 

Comparatively, Trump visited Camp David five times in his first year in office, according to USA Today. He visited his golf clubs 150 times in his first year. 

Sources: Washington Post, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, USA Today

President Joe Biden made his first trip to Camp David three weeks into his presidency for Valentine's Day weekend in 2021.

Source: Reuters

Biden was at Camp David during the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.

He spent 72 hours at Camp David and cut his trip short to return to the White House and address the nation. 

Source: Washington Post

In February 2023, Biden and his team prepared for his State of the Union address from Camp David.

Source: CBS News

Biden and his family spent the Fourth of July weekend at Camp David in 2023.

Source: Washington Examiner

Biden called for a "new era of cooperation" with Japan and South Korea.

President Joe Biden held a joint news conference with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, and then-Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Camp David on August 18, 2023.

"This is the first summit I've hosted at Camp David as president. I can think of no more fitting location to begin the next era of cooperation," Biden said at the time. "In the months and years ahead, we're going to continue to seize those possibilities together — unwavering in our unity and unmatched in our resolve."

Biden gathered with close family members at Camp David in June 2024.

President Joe Biden leaned on his family during a difficult stretch of his campaign following his first debate with former President Donald Trump. (In July 2024, Biden stepped aside as the Democratic nominee, paving the way for the eventual nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris as the party's standard bearer.)

Trump won a second term in November 2024 and come January 2025, it'll once again be the president-elect's turn to utilize the retreat.

Editor's note: This story was first published in February 2018 and has been updated with recent information.

• Business Insider asked chefs, bakers, and food writers about their favorite air-fryer desserts.
• They suggested using the appliance to make quick chocolate-chip cookies and brownies. 
• More complex desserts, like apple pie and cannoli shells, are also easy to make in an air fryer. 

Air fryers are known for their ability to give savory food a satisfying crunch without excess oil, but the trendy appliance is also capable of whipping up quick and easy desserts. 

Business Insider spoke with professional chefs, bakers, and food writers to share their favorite classic desserts to bake in the countertop appliance.

Here are some sweet treats you probably didn't know you can make in an air fryer.

Brownies are a quick and simple air-fryer dessert

Chris Riley, the chef and founder of The Darling Kitchen, told BI that you can use an air fryer to make perfectly tender brownies.

"The air fryer is perfect for making a small batch of brownies without heating up the whole house with the oven," he said.

Most air fryers are smaller than traditional ovens, so to make sure you don't end up with leftover mix, Riley suggested dividing your recipe in half or baking your batter in multiple smaller batches.

You can make apple pie in record time 

Air fryers are a great shortcut for making small fruit pies.

"This classic dessert can easily be prepared in an air fryer without having to turn on the oven. If you use ready-made apple crust, you can make this tasty treat in under half an hour," Riley told BI.

To decrease the chances of your pie bubbling over, allow the sliced apples to rest in a bowl for 30 minutes, and drain the excess liquid before adding them to your pie crust. 

Nutella pastry rolls are a deliciously easy treat

Chef and author Maria Liberati told BI that you can use hazelnut spread and store-bought pastry dough to create a quick and tasty dessert in the air fryer. 

"Spread Nutella between two strips of puff-pastry dough, brush the top strip with milk and brown sugar, roll it up, and then bake in the air fryer for five minutes at 400 degrees," she said. 

If you're using a large sheet of premade pastry dough, be sure to cut an even number of strips so that each roll has a top and bottom layer.

Chocolate-chip cookies are one of the quickest air-fryer desserts 

Chocolate-chip cookies are another classic dessert you can easily make in an air fryer.

"Chocolate-chip cookies bake in around five minutes in the air fryer," Riley told BI. "They get perfectly crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside."

If you want to save even more time, use store-bought dough or prepare a large batch ahead of time and bake individual cookies as needed. 

Air fryers are ideal for making homemade cannoli shells

Cannoli are Italian pastries made by filling tubes of fried pastry dough with sweet ricotta cream. Riley said the shells are easy to make in an air fryer. 

"You can make cannoli shells in an air fryer with a lot less work than usual by using store-bought pie dough," he told BI. "No one will suspect that this exquisite dessert came right out of your air fryer."

If you don't have cannoli tube forms, you can wrap your pastry dough around sturdy aluminum foil shaped into cylinders. 

You can shorten the baking time of banana bread 

Jessica Randhawa, a chef and the writer of The Forked Spoon, told BI that an air fryer is a great way to get banana bread that's perfectly chewy on the outside and soft on the inside.  

"Making banana bread is easy in an air fryer and the fast cooking time means that it can be enjoyed with your morning coffee, as an afternoon snack, or late-night dessert," she said. 

Use mini cake tins or Bundt pans to bake single portions of banana bread in the air fryer, and be sure to adjust your recipe and cooking time accordingly. 

Oatmeal cookies are easy and perfectly chewy

The dense, chewy texture of oatmeal cookies pairs perfectly with the crisping abilities of an air fryer. 

"Oatmeal cookies cook great in an air fryer," Randhawa said. "They come out soft yet chewy and are even better when they're loaded with gooey chocolate chips and spices."

This story was originally published in November 2020 and most recently updated on November 20, 2024. 

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