What did Donald Trump do today?
He left the country to go to a golf course on September 11th.
At 8:57 P.M. tonight, Trump boarded a helicopter that took him to Joint Base Andrews, where he will shortly depart for Ireland. The trip is a vacation: he'll watch the Irish Open golf tournament at a seaside golf course he owns in County Clare.
Trump virtually always takes Friday off—usually leaving the White House for one of his golf resorts much earlier in the day than this—so in many respects this is a typical Friday for him. That extended to his other activities on the day as well. It began shortly after midnight, as he returned from his so-called midterm convention, when he snapped at and lunged towards a reporter. ABC News' Rachel Scott, a Black woman who has frequently been the target of Trump's temper, had asked him about his pledge to pay Americans $5,000 if they elected a Republican-majority Congress in the upcoming elections.
Later in the day, the left side of Trump's face drooped as he dozed through a memorial service at the Pentagon.
This will be the first time a president has ever been absent from the country on the anniversary of the September 11th attacks.
Why does this matter?
- Given that Trump spent most of the past week telling ridiculous new lies about his escapades at Ground Zero, it's probably just as well.