White House says Trump will cancel Christmas trip to Mar-a-Lago if there’s no deal to keep the federal government open
- Federal Aviation Administration closed airspace over President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate from Dec. 21 to Jan. 6
- The White House has not officially said that Trump plans to be away that long
- But White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders acknowledged his travel plans when she said Thursday that he wouldn’t travel the next day if there’s a shutdown
- Government will go into partial shutdown on Friday if Congress can’t come to an agreement with Trump to keep it open
- Trip would be the president’s longest break to date and keep him away on the first few days of the new congressional session
President Donald Trump will not leave Washington for Palm Beach on Friday if the government shuts down, the White House says.
Trump is scheduled to spend 16 days over the holidays at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
With a shutdown looking likelier and likelier, though, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters late Thursday that in the case of a shut down, the president would not travel, however.
Senior policy adviser Stephen Miller also said that it was his ‘understanding’ that the president wouldn’t go on vacation under those circumstances.
‘I haven’t talked with him about it. My understanding is that if there’s a shutdown tomorrow that he’ll still be here,’ Miller stated during an appearance on CNN at the same time as Sanders was taking questions.
President Donald Trump is planning to spend 16 days over the holidays at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida over the holidays
With a shutdown looking likelier and likelier, though, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters late Thursday that in the case of a shut down, the president would not travel, however
The White House has not offered official guidance on the president’s holiday plans, but they are a badly kept secret inside of Palm Beach and Washington
The White House has not offered official guidance on the president’s holiday plans, but they are a badly kept secret inside of Palm Beach and Washington.
He and his family typically spend Thanksgiving and Christmas at his Mar-a-Lago.
An alert issued by the Federal Aviation Administration warns pilots to avoid the airspace over Mar-a-Lago from Dec. 21 to Jan. 6 but does not indicate when Air Force One will arrive or depart the Palm Beach International Airport, The Palm Beach Post reported.
A government shut down could see him cancelling his trip altogether or arriving at his family holiday late.
If Trump spends all of the days set aside for his trip at his Florida property, dubbed the Southern White House, it would be his longest break there since he took office.
The White House argues that the president works while he’s on holiday, despite the fact that nearly every day he spends hours on the other side of town at his privately-owned golf club.
December 21 is the deadline for the government to be funded by midnight and for the legislation to be signed by the president in order to become law.
The House was furtively passing rules on Thursday evening to pave the way for a final bill that could clear the lower chamber that fully funds the president’s border wall.
Except that bill is not what had passed in the Senate, and many of those lawmakers have already left town. The border wall spending deal wouldn’t receive enough votes in the Senate to clear a 60-vote hurdle, even if they were still in town anyhow.
A shutdown seemed to be the most likely scenario late Thursday night as Sanders and Miller appeared on primetime television to explain the president’s position.
It had been unclear until then whether Trump would sick around to see through his own shutdown.
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President Trump, Melania Trump, and Barron Trump arrive in Florida for Thanksgiving
The trip currently Trump out of town past Jan. 3, when the new Congress is sworn into office and Democrats officially take control of the House of Representatives.
As always, the dates can always be changed – particularly for the president who tends to work off the cuff.
But if the president sticks to the schedule, his arrival will come one day earlier than last year and his his departure will come four days later than before. He left Palm Beach for Washington on Jan. 2 in early 2018.
Trump spent six days at his Florida property this year over Thanksgiving.
During his 2017 winter holiday, Trump visited his golf club eight times and played Daniel Berger, Jim Herman and Justin Thomas, PGA Tour member Bryson DeChambeau and former professional golfer Dana Quigley.
This year he could also attend Palm Beach Police Foundation’s Policeman’s ball, one of the few charities that still holds its fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago. That is scheduled for Jan. 5.
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