Donald Trump returned to the golf course Saturday after two-months away due to the coronavirus pandemic. The day on the links came as the death toll from the pandemic grew closer to 100,000 and the total cases inched toward 2 million. Despite this, Trump maintained his golf trip and made no announcement regarding the coronavirus pandemic victims.
The 73-year-old made his way to the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, around 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning. Photographs of the trip show the president clad in a white polo shirt and white baseball hat, and was once again not seen wearing a mask.
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WATCH: President Trump golfs on Saturday at his Virginia golf club. pic.twitter.com/L8SJf0wKzo
— The Hill (@thehill) May 23, 2020
Several states remain under their Stay-at-Home orders ahead of the push to “open” the nation by Memorial Day. As PEOPLE notes, Trump’s golf outing seems to be the latest attempt to light a fire under governors and state officials to open the economy. It is Trump’s first golf game since a March 8 game at Trump International in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Saturday’s presidential golf trip also follows the White House coronavirus task force lead Dr. Deborah Birx saying Washington, D.C. and the surrounding metropolitan area have the highest positive rate of the coronavirus in the United States. Birx also specifically mentioned golf during Friday’s press briefing, raising some eyebrows online.
“You can all make your decisions about going outside and social distancing, potentially playing golf if you’re very careful and you don’t touch the flags, and all of those issues,” Birx said to reporters at The White House.
Trump’s golf outing also closes a tense week. It started with the president touting the questionable malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus aid, even adding he has been taking it himself. He also stood firm on not wearing a mask despite rules and many around him following the guidelines. It has been a focal point of his outings earlier in the week, including a contentious visit to a Ypsilanti, Michigan to tour of a Ford Motors factory.
While speaking with reporters, Trump noted that he had a mask on behind-the-scenes but took it off when speaking to reporters because he didn’t want to “give them the satisfaction.” A TMZ report shared a photograph of the president in his mask, complete with a presidential seal on the front.
