It looks like Trump’s spending his vacation in NJ again
BEDMINSTER — President Donald Trump appears set to spend his summer vacation at his golf course in New Jersey once again.
NJ Advance Media reports the Federal Aviation Administration has issued a temporary flight advisory for Aug. 2 through 13 for the Bedminster area, where the Trump National Golf Club is located. It's been a frequent spot of respite for the president, and was the location for most of a 17-day trip last year last summer.
That trip — taken while the White House air conditioning system was being repaired — drew criticism to the president, who's often spoken with disdain about vacations.
"Don't take vacations. What's the point? If you're not enjoying your work, you're in the wrong job," Trump wrote in his 2004 book, "Trump: Think Like a Billionaire."
He told Larry King in an interview that year that "most of the people I know that are successful really don't take vacations. Their business is their vacation. I rarely leave. You know that," Trump said. "You and I are friends. How often do you see me going away?"
And in 2016, he told supporters in Virginia: “I’m going to be working for you, I’m not going to have time to go play golf."
He'd also criticized former President Barack Obama for golf outings:
Trump has also entertained world leaders at the Bedminster golf course. He's paid recent visits to the golf course, including this weekend.
The site TrumpGolfCount.com estimates he's spent 42 days at Bedminster during his presidency, with flights costing more than $11 million dollars. It says he's spent another 68 at Mar A Lago, with flights costing more than $34 million dollars. The site tracks Trump's visits to the courses as well as whether he's known to have played golf while he was there, with listings as recent as today (often accompanied by snide comments about Trump's activity during the trip, like "rewriting history" or "Getting stories straight with Giuliani").
It says there's "evidence" of Trump playing golf on at least 59 visits to the clubs.
(Take all that with a grain of salt. The Washington Post criticized some of the site's cost figures just a few days ago, though the site said it's since taken steps to make sure they're presented as estimates and to firm up its methodology.)
No formal announcement for a summer vacation has yet been made.
— Includes past reporting by the Associated Press. Included material copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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