function onPlayerReadyVidible(e){'undefined'!=typeof HPTrack&&HPTrack.Vid.Vidible_track(e)}!function(e,i){if(e.vdb_Player){if('object'==typeof commercial_video){var a='',o='m.fwsitesection='+commercial_video.site_and_category;if(a+=o,commercial_video['package']){var c='&m.fwkeyvalues=sponsorship%3D'+commercial_video['package'];a+=c}e.setAttribute('vdb_params',a)}i(e.vdb_Player)}else{var t=arguments.callee;setTimeout(function(){t(e,i)},0)}}(document.getElementById('vidible_1'),onPlayerReadyVidible); Donald Trump likes to call his Mar-a-Lago golf resort the Winter White House but there may be more presidential puttings than meetings occurring at the get-away destination. Its difficult to know for certain because the private club can keep the presidents activities hidden from the publicand the media.This weekend in particularthe presidents fifth trip to Mar-a-Lago in eight weeks in the White House Trump may have been more embroiled with his nine-iron than the troubles of the nation. He cancelled a touted meeting Friday night with business leaders and doctors to discuss veterans health care, and his aides were circumspect about how he spent his time Saturday.He spent over four hours on Saturday at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, where he was supposed to be having meetings and phone calls, according to his staff, CBS reported.Press pool at Trump Intl Golf Club told the president having meetings and phone calls there. This WH reluctant to report when he golfs. Mark Knoller (@markknoller) March 18, 2017 But the president posed for a photo on Twitter (including with former Mitt Romney aide Peter Flaherty) in the clubhouse posted by pal Chris Ruddy, who runs the conservative news site Newsmax. Trump was wearing a golf glove. An aide, asked about the photo, then conceded that the president may have hit a few balls..@realDonaldTrump with @pgflaherty and Max Kramer at Trump International Golf West Palm today! pic.twitter.com/R0gebVs1fX Christopher Ruddy (@ChrisRuddyNMX) March 18, 2017 WH press aide wouldn't say if @POTUS played golf. Told of Twitter photo of @POTUS in golf attire, she said he may have "hit a few balls." Mark Knoller (@markknoller) March 18, 2017 Trump returned to Mar-a-Lago to have dinner with Marvel CEO Isaac Perlmutter.In a strange scene at the White House on Friday concerning the meeting that was later cancelled, Trump boasted about it and turned to Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, asking him if he was coming to Mar-a-Lago. When Shulkin shook his head no, Trump added:You heard about it, right' Its going to be greatall about the VA.Trump pointed out that the meeting would be at Mar-a-Lago, whichwe call affectionately the Southern White House. Seems to be the most convenient location, he added. Everybody always wants to go to the Southern White House.The name change from Winter White House was apparently a signal that Trump intends to continue to make frequent trips to the resort long after the winter.Trump asks VA @SecShulkin if he's going to Mar-a-Lago. Shulkin shakes his head. pic.twitter.com/aZyiBC9Gnj POLITICO (@politico) March 17, 2017 The trips are particularly striking because of how Trump bashed Barack Obama for taking golf trips.I would rarely leave the White House because theres so much work to be done, Trump said in 2015. I would not be a president who took vacations. I would not be a president that takes time off.#TBT to March 2016, when presidents leaving the White House was a bad thing pic.twitter.com/rURy9cTn49 Brandon Wall (@Walldo) March 18, 2017 Trumps frequent golf jaunts are becoming enormously expensive. Politico has estimated that each trip to Mar-a-Lago costs taxpayers at least $3 million(protecting wife Melania and son Baron back in New York has been estimated to cost an additional $1 million a day).At those Mar-a-Lago prices so far, The Washington Post notes that Trump could fund the U.S.Interagency Council on Homelessness for nearly four years if he had skipped the resort trips. But the newspaper also makes the case that estimating accurate costs is challenging.Palm Beach officials on Friday told CNN they want the Secret Service or Trump himself to help the county payfor police overtime spent to help protect the president. The sheriffs department estimates that it costs about $60,000 in law enforcement overtime every day Trump spends in Florida, and officials expect the costs to top $1 million this weekend.Palm Beach Mayor Paulette Burdick said the county may have to hike taxes to cover the costs.It means the local taxpayers will have to bear the added burden of being part of the security for the president, she told CNN.The latest security concern occurred Friday at Mar-a-Lago when a teen crashed a car he was driving into a fence at Mar-a-Lago, NBC reported. He was given a traffic ticket and ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation."Don't take vacations. What's the point' If you're not enjoying your work, you're in the wrong job." -- Think Like A Billionaire Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2012 type=type=RelatedArticlesblockTitle=Related Coverage + articlesList=58bce49fe4b0fa65b844b572,58c32ec8e4b0a797c1d39cb0,58a7577de4b045cd34c17d40,58af7a8ee4b060480e065ccd,58a20838e4b03df370d9007e -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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