Then-US President George W. Bush, right, and then-South Korean President Lee Myung Bak laugh as they leave their joint news conference after their meeting at Camp David on April 19, 2008.
Dennis Brack-Pool/Getty Images
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 theΒ Catoctin Mountain Park, is the presidentialΒ 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."
The original sign to Camp David during President Franklin D. Roosevelt's term.
National Park Service
When President Dwight D. Eisenhower took office, he renamed the property "Camp David," after his father and grandson who had the same name.
David Eisenhower, the grandson of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, poses with a sign named in his honor in 1960.
White House
By the end of the Eisenhower administration, Camp David looked like this. The president's cabin β Aspen Lodge β was originally called the Bear's Den by FDR.
Camp David's Aspen Lodge in April 1961.
Robert Knudsen. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston.
From the beginning, Camp David gave presidents a chance to enjoy the countryside.
FDR and Winston Churchill are pictured fishing at Shangri-La in 1943.
FDR Presidential Library & Museum/Flickr
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.
President Jimmy Carter, holding the hand of his grandson Jason, leads members of the Carter family and others on a holiday outing to Cunningham Falls State Park near Camp David on November 25, 1978.
Associated Press
Horseback riding is also a common activity for the trails, as seen here with President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George Bush.
President Ronald Reagan, left, and Vice President George Bush go horseback riding at Camp David in July 1981.
Associated Press
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.
TheLBJLibrary/YouTube
Here's another shot of Johnson at the Camp David pool.
TheLBJLibrary/YouTube
President Richard Nixon added a pool behind the Aspen Lodge in the 1970s. President Barack Obama apparently still enjoyed it decades later.
President Barack Obama and his daughter Sasha play at the Camp David pool in 2011.
White House
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.
President Barack Obama plays basketball with senior staff and their family members during a retreat at Camp David on July 18, 2009.
Obama White House/Flickr
As well as a pool table.
Following the conclusion of the G8 Summit, President Barack Obama plays a game of pool in the Holly Cabin at Camp David on May 19, 2012.
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
Camp David can provide a relaxing setting for presidents to do their work, away from the chaos of Washington.
President Barack Obama reads briefing material while meeting with advisors inside his cabin at Camp David on October 21, 2012.
Obama White House/Flickr
Many presidents have spent Christmas at Camp David.
Lauren Bush shows her grandfather President Bush, her Rudolph costume for the grandchildren's Christmas play as he works in his office at the presidential retreat in Camp David on December 24, 1992.
Associated Press
It's pretty nice in winter too.
Three unidentified children sled down the hill outside Aspen Lodge, the Presidential residence at Camp David, on February 10, 1962.
Robert Knudsen. White House Photographs. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston.
President Jimmy Carter turned Camp David into a place where diplomacy was conducted, like the landmark Camp David Accords in 1978.
Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat, President Jimmy Carter, and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, meet for the first time at Camp David on September 6, 1978.
Associated Press
Like Carter, President Bill Clinton used Camp David as a location for talks between Israel and Palestine.
President Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, left, and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, right, walk on the grounds of Camp David on July 11, 2000.
Associated Press
Obama also used Camp David as a place for diplomatic events.
President Barack Obama waves to cameras before greeting world leaders for the G8 Summit Friday on May 18, 2012.
Associated Press
In 2012, he hosted the leaders of the G8 nations at Camp David.
President Barack Obama, center right, sits with world leaders at the start of the first session of the G-8 Summit Saturday, May 19, 2012, at Camp David, Md. Seated, clockwise from left, are Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, French President Francois Hollande, Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, and European Commission President Jose' Manuel Barroso, back to camera.
Associated Press
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.
President Donald Trump walks towards Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House to travel to Camp David on January 5, 2018.
Associated Press
In January 2018, Trump brought senior Republicans to Camp David for a leadership retreat.
President Donald Trump, center, accompanied by from left, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., Vice President Mike Pence, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, speaks after participating in a Congressional Republican Leadership Retreat at Camp David, Md., Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018.
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
During his presidency, Trump frequented his properties more than Camp David.
Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
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.Β
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.Β
Biden was at Camp David during the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris (on-screen) hold a video conference with the national security team to discuss the ongoing efforts to draw down our civilian footprint in Afghanistan.
White House via Getty Images
He spent 72 hours at Camp David and cut his trip short to return to the White House and address the nation.Β
Biden called for a "new era of cooperation" with Japan and South Korea.
President Joe Biden, center, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, and then-Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hold a joint news conference at Camp David on August 18, 2023.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
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 β unwavering in our unity and unmatched in our resolve."
Biden gathered with close family members at Camp David in June 2024.
President Joe Biden exits Air Force One en route to Camp David.
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
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.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt turned a Maryland camp into a presidential retreat in 1942.
President Dwight Eisenhower changed the name to "Camp David" after his grandson.
Subsequent presidents added amenities including a pool, a chapel, and "Golf Cart One."
Located in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains, Camp David serves as an escape for US presidents to unwind away from the White House and meet with world leaders in a more relaxed setting.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the presidential retreat when his preferred vacation, cruises aboard a presidential yacht, became too risky during World War II, according to the White House Historical Association.
Over the years, various presidents have enhanced the rustic mountain getaway with amenities such as a heated pool, a non-denominational chapel, and the president's own "Golf Cart One" to drive around the 180-acre retreat.
Take a look at how Camp David has changed through the years.
Camp David was known as Shangri-La when President Franklin D. Roosevelt established it as a presidential retreat in 1942.
Shangri-La, now known as Camp David.
Byron Rollins/AP
The name "Shangri-La" was the name of a fictional kingdom in the book "The Lost Horizon" by James Hilton.
President Harry Truman had the cabins updated with heating so that Camp David could also function as a winter retreat.
Aspen Lodge at Camp David in the winter.
Robert Knudsen/White House Photo/John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
The retreat center was originally built in 1938 as a summer camp for use by government employees as part of The New Deal's Works Progress Administration, so it wasn't equipped for chilly weather.
In 1953, President Dwight Eisenhower changed the name from "Shangri-La" to "Camp David" after his grandson.
Camp David.
AP
David Eisenhower was 5 years old when his grandfather named the presidential retreat after him. Today, David Eisenhower works as the director of the Institute for Public Service and a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication.
Mamie Eisenhower added the name "Aspen" to the main presidential cabin.
Dwight Eisenhower with Colombian President Alberto Lleras outside Aspen.
AP
Aspen has four bedrooms, a kitchen, an office, and a patio.
Eisenhower became the first president to travel by helicopter in 1957, so he had a landing site installed at Camp David.
Dwight Eisenhower with the presidential helicopter on the White House lawn.
President Richard Nixon added a swimming pool near the presidential cabin in the 1970s.
The swimming pool at Camp David during Richard Nixon's presidency.
Nixon Library
There is also a second pool further out on the grounds.
Nixon also had the gravel paths paved to make it easier to drive around on golf carts.
Camp David in 1973.
Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
Camp David measures 180 acres and includes miles of walking trails through the Catoctin Mountains.
Camp David served as the setting for groundbreaking diplomatic agreements such as President Jimmy Carter's Camp David Accords in 1978.
President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, President Jimmy Carter, and Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel at Camp David.
Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
President Jimmy Carter convened Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin at Camp David in 1978, where the leaders negotiated a peace treaty between the two countries.
During Carter's presidency, Camp David interiors featured plaid couches and wicker chairs.
Camp David during Jimmy Carter's presidency.
HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Presidents who gave weekly radio addresses did so from the presidential office in Laurel Lodge.
Bill Clinton at Camp David.
The White House/Getty Images
FDR was the first US president to deliver fireside chats over the radio in 1933. Reagan brought them back in 1982, and every president since has continued the tradition except for President-elect Donald Trump, who stopped recording weekly addresses about two years into his first term.
Ronald Reagan designed Easter Chapel, a non-denominational space that opened during George H.W. Bush's presidency.
The Bush family in Evergreen Chapel at Camp David.
Eric Draper/White House via Getty Images
Reagan held a groundbreaking ceremony for the chapel at Camp David in 1988, and George H.W. Bush dedicated the space during his presidency in 1991.
George H.W. Bush revisited the chapel to celebrate Easter in 2006 during the presidency of his son, President George W. Bush.
Golf carts have long been the vehicle of choice to get around Camp David.
George W. Bush on Gold Cart One.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
President George W. Bush had a placard made for his golf cart labeling it "Golf Cart One," a reference to Air Force One. He drove it during visits to Camp David in 2006, 2007, and 2008.
President Barack Obama hosted the G8 Summit in Laurel Cabin in 2012.
World leaders at the G8 Summit at Camp David.
Pete Souza/The White House via Getty Images
Leaders from the UK, Russia, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada, and France joined Obama at Camp David in 2012 to discuss the European debt crisis.
He also took advantage of the pool table in Holly Cabin.
Barack Obama in Holly Cabin at Camp David.
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
Camp David also has a bowling alley and a movie theater.
President Donald Trump only made occasional visits to Camp David and seemed to prefer his own luxurious residences.
Donald Trump with senior White House staff at Camp David.
Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead
Trump described Camp David as "very rustic" and told reporters in 2017 that they would tire of it after 30 minutes.
He spent more time at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, which became known as his "winter White House."
Camp David features more modern decor today.
Joe Biden at Camp David.
Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz
The wicker dining set and plaid couches have been replaced with sleek leather chairs and recessed lighting.
