The president, Donald Trump, does not like Washington too much, and as soon as he can he escapes. Of the 340 days he has been in office, he has spent almost a third on land owned by him as his private residence in Florida or his golf courses in New Jersey or Virginia.
“I will not be a president to take a vacation, I will rarely leave the White House because we have a lot of work to do,” he said in 2015, shortly after announcing his intention to compete for the Republican presidential nomination.
The figures, when he is about to complete his first year in office, show, however, that he has spent almost a third, more than 100 days, outside of Washington.
The favorite destination is Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach (Florida), where he spends his first Christmas as president along with his family, and which he likes to refer to as the “White House of Winter”.
It has been the chosen place to entertain during his official visits to two of the important heavyweights of the global scene: the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, and the Chinese President, Xi Jinping.
In total, Trump has spent 40 days in Mar-a-Lago, and where today he has started his journey, before moving to his private golf club to enjoy his favorite sport in what is his classic holiday routine.
In his Twitter account, Trump wished “a happy Christmas to everyone” and said he would “go back to work to make America Great Again (which is happening faster than anyone had anticipated).”
After his residency in South Florida, the president has spent more than 30 days at his residence in Bedminster, New Jersey, also with a golf club and which he chose for his summer break.
When he stays in the US capital, Trump opts for the golf course he owns in Potomac Falls, Virginia, a half hour from the White House, which manages his son Eric and where he has spent 24 days.
To go out to dinner in the city, the president has it even easier. On Pennsylvania Avenue, less than half a kilometer from the presidential residence, is the hotel of your property, Trump International, which has become a meeting place for businessmen and diplomats from Washington.
Only a couple of times he has taken advantage of the official residence of Camp David, in Maryland, 100 kilometers from Washington, an enclave he has described as too “rustic” for his taste.
In contrast, his predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama, used to rent residences for his summer vacation, on Martha’s Vineyard, in Massachusetts, or in his home state of Hawaii.
For his part, the former Republican president, George W. Bush, used to spend the days of rest at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.
This unusual frequency of Trump to visit places of his property has generated suspicions among public opinion, given the possible conflicts of interest and what can be perceived as a use of public office to publicize private businesses.
“George W. Bush often went to Crawford, but it’s not a place where you could rent the next room,” Jordan Libowitz, spokesman for the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics transparency group, said in a statement. .
The White House has rejected these issues, and has stressed that this is the private resting time of the president.
The business, however, is the business and The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the Trump organization, whose management the president has delegated his children, has raised the rates at his hotel in Washington by 60% in the face of growing demand and has doubled the cost to be a Mar-a-Lago member up to $ 200,000.
