Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images
President Donald Trump plays a round of golf on the Trump Turnberry resort in South Ayrshire, where he and first lady Melania Trump are spending the weekend.
- President Donald Trump told reporters last week that he was canceling a highly anticipated diplomatic trip to Poland so he could monitor Hurricane Dorian from Camp David.
- Trump spent hours playing golf at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia throughout the course of Labor Day weekend.
- He also took time to blast out over 100 tweets that lobbed attacks at everyone from his perceived enemies at the Justice Department and FBI, the liberal actress Debra Messing, the "failing New York Times" and "Amazon Washington Post," and the freshman Democratic congresswomen known as "The Squad."
- He also falsely claimed that Alabama was directly in the the path of Hurricane Dorian and refused to correct his error even after being rebuked by the National Weather Service.
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President Donald Trump announced last week that he was canceling a diplomatic trip to Poland so he could monitor Hurricane Dorian from Camp David as the Category 4 storm made its way toward the southeastern US. Trump said he canceled the trip because it was "very important" for him to track the storm.
The next day, the president hit the links at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. According to a pool report, Trump met with FEMA officials at Camp David early Saturday to discuss the government's response to Hurricane Dorian, and he departed for his golf course by helicopter around 10 a.m. ET.
The White House press secretary, Stephanie Grisham, told reporters that someone from FEMA was briefing Trump on the hurricane every hour.
Pool reports said Trump golfed for a little over four hours and left the course at 2:40 p.m. ET, and received his full scheduled briefing on Hurricane Dorian when he returned to Camp David.
Trump visited his Virginia golf course again on Monday for the second time in three days. It marked the 289th day he spent at a Trump property and the 227th day he's spent at one of his golf clubs since taking office.
The president spoke with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday as the state braced for Hurricane Dorian. DeSantis said at a
But Trump's attention was at least somewhat divided; the president took to Twitter and blasted out more than 100 tweets over the course of Labor Day Weekend.
In addition to updates on Hurricane Dorian's path, Trump's tweets included:
- A false claim that the storm was going to hit Alabama; this was rebuked by the National Weather Service.
- Fawning praise of his presidency from Fox News.
- Attacks against former FBI director James Comey.
- Attacks against four freshman Democratic congresswomen of color known as "The Squad."
- Attacks against the liberal actress and activist Debra Messing.
- Attacks against the AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka.
- Attacks against "Failing New York Times columnist Paul Krugman."
- Attacks against the "Amazon Washington Post."
- Broader attacks on the "LameStream Media."
Coverage of his weekend spent golfing appears to have irked the president, because he again took to Twitter on Tuesday to rail against Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London who criticized Trump for managing hurricane response from a golf course.
Khan "was bothered that I played a very fast round of golf yesterday," Trump tweeted. "Many Pols exercise for hours, or travel for weeks. Me, I run through one of my course (very inexpensive). President Obama would fly to Hawaii."
Trump added that "Kahn [sic] should focus on ... 'knife crime,' which is totally out of control in London. People are afraid to even walk the streets. He is a terrible mayor who should stay out of our business!"
Forbes reported last month that if Trump continues playing golf at his current pace, the outings could end up costing taxpayers $340 million. The total cost of Obama's travel to taxpayers in the eight years he was president was $114 million.
Trump's response to Hurricane Dorian greatly differs from that of previous presidents, many of whom have sought to unite and calm the nation above all else.
As presidential historian Julian Zeiler told The Times, it seems as if Trump "doesn't want this role at all, and he has no interest in stopping his traditional, normal tweet storms."
Over the weekend, the storm reached Category 5 status and tore through the Bahamas, leaving at least five known casualties and flattening entire islands.
Grace Panetta contributed to this report.