Most presidents vacation in August, and most presidents play golf. President Trump is doing both during his 11-day "working vacation" at his company's golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. And other than a roundtable on prison reform scheduled for Thursday, Trump "will, unless things change, be on 'Executive Time,'" says Jonathan Swan at Axios, referring to the unscheduled time Trump typically spends watching cable news and tweeting. Unlike last year, when "his senior staff often scrambled to fill his time — planning events and scheduling golf games with people who might engage him in productive conversation," Swan said, "now his staff have largely given up on futile efforts to supervise him, leaving the president's schedule open and unstructured."
Trump is doing more than tweeting and watching TV, Swan reports. He likes to golf in the morning, dine in the clubhouse with guests, mix with club members, and frequently talk on the phone — "and staff often have no idea who he's talking to." If Trump's taking some much-needed R & R, though, his staff and Secret Service detail are working around the clock. Trump's liberal and erratic use of Twitter "means his press and legal teams can never truly switch off," Axios says, and his proximity to guests poses a challenge to his protective agents. "Bedminster is really something," a source who's spent time there with Trump tells Swan. "People in a swimming pool all day, 15 yards from POTUS's house." Read more about Trump's "summer playground" at Axios.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Magazine solutions - December 27, 2024 / January 3, 2025Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - December 27, 2024 / January 3, 2025
-
Magazine printables - December 27, 2024 / January 3, 2025Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - December 27, 2024 / January 3, 2025
-
Why ghost guns are so easy to make — and so dangerousThe Explainer Untraceable, DIY firearms are a growing public health and safety hazard
-
Honda and Nissan in merger talksSpeed Read The companies are currently Japan's second and third-biggest automakers, respectively
-
Taylor Swift wraps up record-shattering Eras tourSpeed Read The pop star finally ended her long-running tour in Vancouver, Canada
-
Drake claims illegal boosting, defamationSpeed Read The rapper accused Universal Music of boosting Kendrick Lamar's diss track and said UMG allowed him to be falsely accused of pedophilia
-
'Wicked' and 'Gladiator II' ignite holiday box officeSpeed Read The combination of the two movies revitalized a struggling box office
-
Jussie Smollet conviction overturned on appealSpeed Read The Illinois Supreme Court overturned the actor's conviction on charges of staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself in 2019
-
Quincy Jones, music icon, is dead at 91Speed Read The legendary producer is perhaps best known as the architect behind Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'
-
OJ Simpson, star athlete tried for murder, dead at 76Speed Read The former football hero and murder suspect lost his battle with cancer
-
Momofuku's 'Chili Crunch' trademark uproarSpeed Read The company's attempt to own the sole rights has prompted backlash
