The U.S. military has deployed mobile air defense missile systems near President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, as federal authorities respond to what the Secret Service describes as an elevated and evolving security threat against the president.

Photographs published by The Palm Beach Post show two U.S. Army Avenger short-range air defense systems mounted on Humvees and positioned aboard a floating barge in the Lake Worth Lagoon. The barge was stationed along the seawall on the western side of Trump's 17-acre oceanfront property.

Photographer Greg Lovett captured the deployment on October 23, when Trump visited Mar-a-Lago and spent the night after arriving at President Donald J. Trump International Airport in West Palm Beach. Uniformed Army personnel were visible aboard the barge.

Additional photographs showed a U.S. Coast Guard vessel patrolling the Intracoastal Waterway, with an armed crew member wearing body armor and operating a mounted machine gun at the front of the boat.

The Avenger system is designed to protect against low-flying aircraft, drones and cruise missiles. Its presence provides an additional layer of air defense around the president's Florida residence.

A Secret Service spokesman told The Telegraph that the agency is operating under heightened security conditions and continually adjusts its protective measures.

"The US Secret Service is operating in a heightened threat environment, and we continuously adapt our protective operations to incorporate cutting-edge tools, technology, and methods to safeguard our protectees," the spokesman said.

The agency is also pursuing permanent restrictions on air traffic around Mar-a-Lago, citing what court documents describe as "adverse threat intelligence," including terrorist threats. The airspace surrounding the estate is already subject to restrictions, with additional closures when Trump is staying at the property.

"The airborne threat vector at Mar-a-Lago is persistent and substantial," Secret Service Deputy Director Matthew Quinn wrote in a court filing, warning that the current threat environment remains "heightened, real, and dynamic."

The expanded security measures come amid the ongoing U.S. conflict with Iran and a series of incidents involving threats to Trump's life.

In February, Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County sheriff's deputy fatally shot an armed man who drove through a security gate at Mar-a-Lago carrying what appeared to be a shotgun and a gas can. Trump was at the White House when the incident occurred.

The deployment also follows two major assassination attempts in 2024. In September of that year, an armed suspect was discovered hiding in the shrubbery at Trump's West Palm Beach golf course while the president was playing. Two months earlier, Trump was wounded when a gunman opened fire at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Federal agencies have maintained and expanded security around Mar-a-Lago since Trump first won the presidency in 2016. Asked whether recent changes to Trump's schedule were connected to the elevated threat environment, a Secret Service spokesman referred questions to the White House.