Donald Trump heading to Mar-a-Lago over Easter weekend
'Yes, I’ll be here for Easter,' says President
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump is planning on heading to his luxury Mar-a-Lago resort in the sunshine state of Florida for the Easter weekend.
The President, who enjoys referring to his Palm Beach estate as the “Winter White House”, has spent around a quarter of his time as President at his 126-room Mar-a-Lago resort. Since moving into the White House, he has spent a total of six weekends and 21 days there.
According to Palm Beach Daily News, Mr Trump was probed by a guest at his Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach about whether he would be returning to Florida over the weekend.
“Yes, I’ll be here for Easter,” Mr Trump reportedly said.
“Is Easter next week?” he added. "Well then, I guess I’ll be back next week.”
Mr Trump was spotted playing golf at the course for two consecutive days over the weekend following a meeting with the Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago last week. This is the 16th visit the billionaire president has made to one of his eponymous golf courses since becoming president just over 11 weeks ago.
Barack Obama, whom Mr Trump regularly rebuked for his golfing habits, waited months before playing golf during his tenure. While his predecessor's first documented golf outing was just shy of 100 days into his presidency, Mr Trump is only 80 days into his term and has already been busy hitting the green.
In one of his numerous barbed attacks, Mr Trump took aim at President Obama for hitting the green in 2013 when he was considering striking Syria for its use of chemical weapons. Mr Trump argued he should have been conferring with lawmakers instead.
"Pres Obama is not busy talking to Congress about Syria.. he is playing golf ... Go figure," he wrote on Twitter.
The below chart, created for The Independent by statistics agency Statista, shows how Mr Trump's time spent golfing compares with that of previous American presidents.
Mr Trump has a close relationship with Florida and has been visiting the state for decades. He has called the state his “second home” and Mar-a-Lago the “Southern White House”.
Nevertheless, Mr Trump has had a tumultuous relationship with the state and has sued the city and had battles with the town's leadership.
Although his Mar-a-Lago resort is a 15-hour drive from the White House, the estate has been described as an outpost of American government. President Trump had an al fresco meeting with Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, amid a North Korean missile launch at the resort in February and he has also entertained health care industry executives there.
While Mr Trump and his family enjoy private quarters in a closed-off area of the grounds, the resort is also home to a members club. The Mar-a-Lago Club’s members include real estate developers, energy executives and Wall Street financiers.
A representative for Mr Trump did not immediately respond to request for comment.
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