Three days into his first extended getaway as president, Donald Trump wanted to tell everyone he’s not really vacation — and if we’re counting tweets, POTUS has certainly been keeping busy.
Trump is spending a full 17 days at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf resort and since escaping Washington on Friday he’s hosted a campaign-style rally in West Virginia, spoken with the South Korean president once via phone and tweeted or retweeted an impressive 39 times.
Monday morning he took to Twitter to tell the public he’s, “Working hard from New Jersey while White House goes through long planned renovation. Going to New York next week for more meetings.”
To be fair, Trump was kind of kicked out of the White House — the West Wing was cleared out so it could undergo renovations — furniture and staff have been moved from the Oval Office and relocated to a nearby office building while upgrades are made to the building’s air conditioning system.
Without the distractions of the White House occupying his time, Trump has apparently had plenty of time to tweet.
He started his Monday off by taking some punches at the New York Times, then threw a couple shots at the rest of the “fake news” media for good measure.
He boasted about his successes with the “surging economy,” jobs, border security anon the battlefield against ISIS. And of course, Trump didn’t pass up the opportunity to try to discredit the Justice Department investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.
The Fake News refuses to report the success of the first 6 months: S.C., surging economy & jobs,border & military security,ISIS & MS-13 etc.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2017
Just completed call with President Moon of South Korea. Very happy and impressed with 15-0 United Nations vote on North Korea sanctions.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2017
The failing @nytimes, which has made every wrong prediction about me including my big election win (apologized), is totally inept!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2017
The Trump base is far bigger & stronger than ever before (despite some phony Fake News polling). Look at rallies in Penn, Iowa, Ohio…….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2017
…and West Virginia. The fact is the Fake News Russian collusion story, record Stock Market, border security, military strength, jobs…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2017
… Supreme Court pick, economic enthusiasm, deregulation & so much more have driven the Trump base even closer together. Will never change!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2017
When Gen. John Kelly took over as White House chief of staff just five days ago, there was some speculation he would get a handle on Trump’s penchant for posting inflammatory tweets. For a moment — albeit a brief one — it looked as if the former military leader known for his disciplined approach was succeeding, but then came Monday morning’s tweetstorm.
The early-morning firing of tweets seems to have calmed at this point.
But despite all Trump’s claims that his getaway really isn’t a vacation, journalists had their doubts.
“The White House easily could make it clear that Trump is working and not vacationing (if they wanted to do so): Actually schedule things,” Chris Geidner of Buzzfeed News said.
The White House easily could make it clear that Trump is working and not vacationing (if they wanted to do so): Actually schedule things. pic.twitter.com/pMNOAHbuMm
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) August 7, 2017
