Donald Trump’s secretive 17-day vacation won’t end until next Tuesday, but in less than two weeks out of the White House, he’s managed to roil the nation on race and destroy bushels of political capital with a series of bizarre and indefensible statements.While hiding out at his private golf club in New Jersey, his gold-plated apartment in New York City, and — for eight hours — the White House, the president repeatedly provoked North Korea into making a specific threat against Guam, thanked Vladimir Putin for expelling hundreds of Americans from the embassy in Russia, and delivered a passionate defense of white supremacists and Nazis.Though Trump’s aggressive rhetoric propelled him to the presidency, his comments Tuesday about the “very fine” white supremacists who marched on Charlottesville in a protest that left a counterprotester dead seem to signal a turning point for many conservatives who defended his previous comments. And his shifting statements on the matter — first blaming “both sides,” then condemning Nazis, then blaming the “alt-left” for provoking the Nazis — reveal a man seemingly unable to censor his darkest feelings on race, even if it means offending wide swaths of the nation and damaging his ability to execute a political agenda going forward.So what was Trump doing leading up to the Charlottesville debacle? With a few rare exceptions, his daily schedules provided to the press pool have been pithily consistent: “No public events scheduled.” In fact, Trump’s administration has been remarkably opaque about his vacation.Curious about what exactly the president of the United States does every day, we broke his vacation down into what a civilian might call a “travel diary.” By piecing together press reports, pool updates and social media posts, it’s possible to put together a sense of how Trump spent the majority of his ill-fated vacation days. Here’s what we know for sure:3:52 PMPresident Trump arrives at sunny Joint Base Andrews, where a smaller plane than the one typically used as Air Force One is waiting to transport him to Bedminster, New Jersey — home of the Trump National Golf Club. Joining him aboard are daughter Ivanka Trump; son-in-law Jared Kushner; grandchildren Arabella, Joseph, and Theodore Kushner; chief of staff Gen. John Kelly; bodyguard Keith Schiller; staff secretary Rob Porter; and director of strategic communications Hope Hicks.According to reporters aboard the jet, Kelly and “a smiling Jared Kushner” are observed “chatting at the conference room table, as a giant television in the background showed Fox News.”4:47 PMAir Force One touches down in Morristown, New Jersey.Trump, Ivanka, Kushner, and Kelly get into the same SUV, which will take them to the Trump National Golf Club. Once he arrives at the club, Trump will not leave the property until Monday, Aug. 14.10:42 PMPresident Trump issues a statement: “General McMaster and I are working very well together. He is a good man and very pro-Israel. I am grateful for the work he continues to do serving our country.”10:53 AMAt some point before 10:53 a.m., President Trump is briefed by Gen. Kelly on reports of a U.S. military helicopter “mishap” off the coast of Australia, a White House official tells reporters. The official, however, declines to say if Trump will play any golf that day, “and provided no other details on his plans for the rest of the day.”???A photograph posted to social media (since deleted) shows Trump, dressed in golf attire, driving a golf cart.If true, it would be at least the 22nd round of golf he’s played since becoming president.3:12 PMTrump tweets a link to a Washington Post article with a favorable headline.6:15 AMTrump tweets “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN”For the second day in a row, the official also declined to say “whether POTUS plans to play golf,” the pool report notes.5:43 PMAn unnamed official declines to provide the assembled reporters with any information on Trump’s activities for the day.6:19 PMTrump tweets his frustration that The Fake News has failed to report on his successes, which he enumerates.6:38 AMTrump tweets an angry message at the New York Times.Sometime before 7:00 AMTrump retweets three Fox News stories — one about the opioid crisis worsening; one about North Korea, which is largely based on an anonymous government source; and one about Anthem pulling out of Nevada’s Obamacare exchange.7:11 AMTrump announces on Twitter he will be holding a “major briefing on the Opioid crisis, a major problem for our country.”3:12 PMThe “major briefing” on the opioid crisis begins. Trump reads a brief address on opioids off a sheet of paper, suggesting that the opioid crisis might be avoided entirely if people just don’t take opioids in the first place. The speech takes less than 4 minutes to read.“The best way to prevent drug addiction and overdose is to prevent people from abusing drugs in the first place. If they don’t start, they won’t have a problem,” Trump says. “If they do start, it’s awfully tough to get off. So if we can keep them from going on and maybe by talking to youth and telling them: No good, really bad for you in every way. But if they don’t start, it will never be a problem.”He does not suggest any alternative pain-management remedies for the thousands of people who are legally prescribed opioids each day.Seated around the table are first lady Melania Trump, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, General Kelly, Jared Kushner, Kirstjen Nielsen, Andrew Bremberg, Kellyanne Conway, Reed Cordish, Robert Porter, Acting Director of ONDCP Richard Baum, and HHS’ Nina Schaefer.3:16 PMA reporter asks Trump a question about North Korea. In response, the president warns the country to stop making threats.“North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen,” Trump says. “[Kim Jong Un] has been very threatening beyond a normal state, and as I said they will be met with fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before. Thank you.”Though Trump appeared to be referencing the statement from a piece of paper, the New York Times later reports the paper was a fact sheet about opioids, and that his response was improvised and had not been “vetted” by any aides.3:17 PMThe press conference ends. In all, the “major briefing on the Opioid crisis” and surprise North Korea threat lasted less than 5 minutes.???Trump declares a major disaster in Oregon.9:18 PMTrump tweets his endorsement of Luther Strange in the Alabama election.7:56 AM — 8:03 AMTrump tweets that his first order as president was “to renovate and modernize our nuclear arsenal,” even though his first order as president — and this is according to the White House! — was an executive order “Minimizing the Economic Burden of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Pending Repeal”The “order” to which Trump appears to be referring was actually a Presidential Memorandum on Rebuilding the U.S. Armed Forces, and was actually the 15th action he signed as president.11 AM to approximately 3:30 PMTrump is seen golfing in a photograph posted on Instagram by Mike Fazio, a Trump supporter and CEO of Prime Staffing. According to Fazio, the president played a full 18 holes and the game was arranged by mutual friend and Trump donor Richard Levine.???President Trump declares a major disaster in New Hampshire.5:18 PMThe Instagram photograph of Trump golfing appears to have been deleted.5:36 PMTrump tweets a video of himself saluting with the caption “#GodBlessTheUSA”6:54 AMTrump again expresses his dissatisfaction with Mitch McConnell and retweets a Twitter poll showing 17,000 people think he’s a better president than Obama.He aso says of his earlier escalating comments on North Korea, “Maybe it wasn’t tough enough.”Asked if he can provide any assurances to Americans who are afraid that the two countries are about to start bombing each other, the president appears to suggest that’s something Americans should feel good about.“The people of this country should be very comfortable, and I will tell you this. If North Korea does anything in terms of even thinking about attack of anybody that we love or we represent or our allies or us, they can be very, very nervous. I’ll tell you why. And they should be very nervous. Because things will happen to them like they never thought possible, OK? He’s been pushing the world around for a long time,” he says.Sometime between 2:30 and 3:40 PMTrump and Pence join National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and Chief of Staff John Kelly for a security briefing.3:41 PMTrump holds his second press conference of the day. He addresses several hot-button topics:4:18 PMTrump announces he has appointed his daughter, a clothing designer, to lead a U.S. delegation to India7:29 AMTrump threatens to bomb North Korea???Trump has a phone call with Guam’s governor, Eddie Calvo. According to the White House, which does not disclose for how long they spoke, “President Trump reassured Governor Calvo and our fellow Americans on Guam that United States forces stand ready to ensure the safety and security of the people of Guam, along with the rest of America. White House Chief of Staff John Kelly spoke separately to Governor Calvo earlier in the day.”???Trump has a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron. According to the White House, which does not disclose for how long they spoke, “They discussed the need to confront the increasingly dangerous situation associated with North Korea’s destabilizing and escalatory behavior. President Trump and President Macron pledged to work together with allies and partners to enforce United Nations sanctions and achieve denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. President Trump reiterated to President Macron the United States’ commitment to stop the North Korean nuclear menace. President Trump stated that the United States is ready, along with its allies, to apply the full range of diplomatic, economic, and military measures to achieve that goal.”1:19 PMTrump addresses the Nazi rally in Virginia that left one woman dead, tweeting that we should all come together as one.Trump’s schedule has no public events listed, and the only communication with the press appears to be a statement, attributed only to a White House spokesperson, that Trump is not defending Nazis: “The President said very strongly in his statement yesterday that he condemns all forms of violence, bigotry, and hatred. Of course that includes white supremacists, KKK, Neo-Nazi and all extremist groups. He called for national unity and bringing all Americans together.”6:10 PMWashington Examiner reporter Gabby Morrongiello notes that “The White House has not responded to your pooler’s request for information about the President’s schedule today, nor has anyone clarified why the statement this morning had to remain on background.”6:26 AMTrump announces he’s going back to D.C.9:15 AMTrump arrives at the Morristown, New Jersey, airport.9:25 AMTrump takes off for D.C. Joining him on Air Force One are press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin, and staff secretary Rob Porter.10:15 AMTrump lands at Joint Base Andrews.10:25 AMTrump departs Joint Base Andrews for the White House.10:40 AMMarine 1 lands on the South Lawn of the White House.10:42 AMTrump gets off Marine 1 alone.11:15 AMTrump meets with Chief of Staff General John Kelly in the Treaty Room at the White House.12:38 PMTrump calls the press to the Diplomatic Reception Room for an event that was not listed on his daily schedule sent out the day before. He speaks for about 5 minutes, reading directly from a teleprompter, condemning the white supremacists — a marked departure from his Saturday statement about the Charlottesville violence, where he called for Americans to look at “both sides” of the issue.“Racism is evil. And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans,” Trump says.“His eyes were glued to the TelePrompter for nearly all of his remarks,” Boston Globe reporter Annie Linskey notes.12:43 PMThe remarks end. Trump declines to answer any questions.3:03 PMTrump signs a memorandum “addressing China’s laws, policies, practices, and actions related to intellectual property, innovation, and technology” in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House.He responds to some questions before sparring with CNN’s Jim Acosta, who asks why a scheduled press conference was canceled.“We had a press conference. We just had a press conference,” Trump says.“Can we ask you some more questions then, sir?” Acosta asks.“It doesn’t bother me at all. But, you know, I like real news. You’re fake news. You’re fake news,” Trump says.8:55 PMTrump departs for Trump Tower9:10 PMTrump arrives at Trump Tower.9:30 PMTrump has a phone call with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.According to the White House, which does not disclose for how long they spoke, “The two leaders exchanged views on the growing threat from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), including the DPRK’s most recent threats to the United States and Japanese territory. President Trump reaffirmed that the United States stands ready to defend and respond to any threat or actions taken by North Korea against the United States or its allies, South Korea and Japan. President Trump and Prime Minister Abe also discussed a range of other regional and global issues of mutual interest.”11:06 PMTrump tweets something.6:30 AMTrump plugs a Fox News segment.6:12 AMTrump expresses his dissatisfaction with Amazon.
Advertisement
Friday, August 4
Advertisement
Saturday, August 5
3:36 PMTrump tweets that he is not on vacation.
3:44 PMTrump tweets that the U.N. Security Council has unanimously voted to sanction North Korea
Advertisement
3:58 PMTrump tweets his approval of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ new initiative: forcing reporters to give up sources.
4:01 PMTrump tweets his approval of an account registered as @protrump45
4:14 PMTrump tweets his approval of the U.N. sanctions.
???Trump declares a state of emergency in Wyoming due to extensive flooding.11 PMThe White House issues a statement: “President Donald J. Trump commends the United Nations Security Council for passing a new resolution that increases sanctions on North Korea in response to its recent ballistic missile tests. The President appreciates China’s and Russia’s cooperation in securing passage of this resolution. He will continue working with allies and partners to increase diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea to end its threatening and destabilizing behavior.”
Sunday, August 6
11:01 AMA White House official declines to give reporters — assembled at a Marriott 12 miles away from Trump’s golf course — any details on the president’s agenda for the day, any updates on the crash of the U.S. military Osprey off the coast of Australia, or any comment on photographs of Trump driving a golf cart.Despite their isolation, the Trump administration does provide the reporters with some material — specifically, “tea and coffee, jars of hard candies, and kits of office supplies equipped with scissors, tape, permanent markers and Liquid Paper white-out,” according to pool reports.
Advertisement
6:22 PMTrump says he has completed a call with South Korean Prime Minister Moon Jae-in, who he notes is also happy with the U.N. sanctions vote.
7:11 PMA White House official writes in an email to the pool reporters that the president of South Korea “has requested a call with President Trump this evening,” and the official promises to provide a readout following the call.11 PMThe readout of the call with South Korean Prime Minister Moon Jae-in is provided via email:“President Donald J. Trump spoke today with President Moon Jae-in of South Korea to discuss North Korea’s July 28 launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. The two leaders affirmed that North Korea poses a grave and growing direct threat to the United States, South Korea, and Japan, as well as to most countries around the world. President Trump and President Moon welcomed the new United Nations Security Council resolution that unanimously passed 15-0. The leaders committed to fully implement all relevant resolutions and to urge the international community to do so as well.”
Advertisement
Monday, August 7
6:58 AMTrump tweets that his base is stronger than ever, despite “phony fake news polling,” citing three recent rallies as evidence.
7:04 AMTrump cites a fourth rally.
7:09 AMTrump reaffirms his faith in the strength of his base.
7:18 AMTrump tweets an angry message at the New York Times and once again reaffirms his faith in the strength of his base.
7:32 AMTrump tweets that he is working hard.
7:47 AMTrump tweets that he has been watching TV.
7:52 AM — 8:01 AMTrump sends a series of tweets attacking the man he saw on TV, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who served in the military during Vietnam but pretended he was in Vietnam when really he was stationed in the U.S.
Trump, who avoided the draft because his feet hurt, has described avoiding a venereal disease as his own “personal Vietnam.”???It starts raining.Sometime before 10:08 AMTrump receives his daily briefing and has an hourlong call with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Chief of Staff General Kelly “to discuss North Korea and receive an update on Secretary Tillerson’s trip,” according to Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Walters.2:03 PMIn honor of Purple Heart Day, Trump tweets his appreciation of all the men and women who have “sacrificed in battle for this GREAT NATION,” except, presumably, Blumenthal.
4:15 PMTrump tweets his disapproval of the “Fake News Media” for failing to cover the U.N. sanctions — his fourth reference to the sanctions and his fifth attacking the media since his vacation began.
Advertisement
4:39 PMTrump tweets his disapproval of the New York Times, his third tweet specifically referencing the paper that day.
4:48 PMTrump returns to attacking Blumenthal. It is still raining.
Tuesday, August 8
7:17 AMTrump announces on Twitter that it is time for all the countries to come together to “finally address the dangers posed by North Korea.”
Sometime in the morningTrump receives his daily intelligence briefing, according to Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Walters.2:00 PMTrump tweets his frustration with “the AmazonWashingtonPost” and the “FailingNewYorkTimes” (his fifth reference to the paper in 24 hours) and their failure to cover something related to the 2016 presidential campaign.
2:10 PMTrump announces on Twitter that his administration has achieved more than most administrations and again expresses his frustration with recent polls — his second such complaint in less than 24 hours.Sometime before 3:10 PMTrump participates in a discussion about “overdose-reversing medication and analyzing data related to the crisis,” according to Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, who later tells reporters it was “an extremely productive meeting” and that “the president is fully engaged.”
Advertisement
Advertisement
???Trump retweets a series of Fox News articles and screenshots, including: 1) a Jesse Watters quote about media bias, 2) U.S. Air Force jets taking off in Guam, 3) a report about how Mexican waste is threatening border agents, 4) a report indicating North Korea can produce miniaturized nukes to fit on missiles, 5) a report on a vehicle attack in France, and 6) a video clip of Trump vowing to bring the “fire and fury” at a press conference the day before.
Wednesday, August 9
(For the record, his second order as president was an executive order “Expediting Environmental Reviews and Approvals For High Priority Infrastructure Projects,” and his third was an executive order “Enhancing Public Safety in the Interior of the United State.”)
Advertisement
If accurate, this would be at least the 23rd round of golf Trump has played since becoming president.1:50 PMDeputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tells reporters gathered in New Jersey that General Kelly and “others on the NSC team” were “well aware of the tone of the statement of the president prior to delivery.”“The words were his own. The tone and strength of the message were discussed beforehand,” Sanders says. “They [Gen. Kelly and others] were clear the president was going to respond to North Korea’s threats following the sanctions with a strong message in no uncertain terms.”2:14 PMTrump expresses on Twitter his dissatisfaction with Mitch McConnell and the failed replace and repeal of Obamacare.
The tweet appears to be in response to comments made by McConnell at a Monday Rotary Club meeting in Kentucky, where he told constituents Trump’s expectations were “excessive.”“Our new president, of course, has not been in this line of work before. And I think he had excessive expectations about how quickly things happen in the democratic process,” McConnell reportedly said. “So part of the reason I think people feel we’re underperforming is because too many artificial deadlines — unrelated to the reality of the complexity of legislating — may not have been fully understood.”
Advertisement
6:03 PMThe White House declines to comment “about what President Trump did today, whether it included golf and whether the Instagram photo was from today,” according to the pool report.???Sarah Huckabee Sanders says Trump “signed 50 commissions, 30 letters and ‘a half dozen’ decision memos” at some point during the day.
Thursday, August 10
10:55 AMSarah Huckabee Sanders tells assembled reporters she is “not sure” if Trump is playing golf this morning.12:30 PMTrump sits down for lunch with Vice President Mike Pence.12:40 PMTrump expresses his dissatisfaction with Mitch McConnell
1:04 PMThe White House announces Trump has appointed Neil Chatterjee, a former McConnell advisor who opposes clean energy, as Chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission2:25 PMTrump and Pence hold a 7-minute press conference outside the Bedminster Golf Club, where Trump says he intends to declare an opioid state of emergency and seems to suggest people would be better off abusing LSD like they did in the 60s.“You know when I was growing up they had the LSD and they had certain generations of drugs. There’s never been anything like what’s happened to this country over the last four or five years,” Trump says. “And I have to say this in all fairness, this is a worldwide problem, not just a United States problem. This is happening worldwide. But this is a national emergency and we are drawing documents now to so attest.”
Advertisement
- On General McMaster: “He’s our friend. He’s my friend and he’s a very talented man. I like him and I respect him.”
- On his proposed transgender military ban which took the Pentagon by surprise and has not been enacted: “I have great respect for the [transgender] community… I think I’ve had great support, or I’ve had great support from that community. I got a lot of votes. But the transgender, the military’s working on it now… It’s been a very difficult situation and I think I’m doing a lot of people a favor by coming out and just saying it. As you know, it’s been a very complicated issue for the military, it’s been a very confusing issue for the military, and I think I’m doing the military a great favor.”
- On the FBI raid on former campaign manager Paul Manafort’s home: “I know Mr. Manafort. Haven’t spoken to him for a long time, but I know him…. I thought it was a very – you know, they do that very seldom, so I was surprised to see it. I was very, very surprised to see it….”
- On Jeff Sessions: ‘“It is what it is. It’s fine. He’s working hard on the border. I’m very proud of what we’ve done at the border.”
- On nuclear war: “I would like to de-nuke the world. President Obama said that global warming is the greatest threat. I disagree.”
- On the types of leaks he likes: “And then you have the leaks where people want to love me, and they’re all fighting for my love. Frankly, I’m somewhat honored.”
- On Putin expelling hundreds of Americans from Russia: “I want to thank him because we’re trying to cut down our payroll and as far as I’m concerned I’m very thankful that he let go of a large number of people because now we have a smaller payroll. There’s no real reason for them to go back. I greatly appreciate the fact that we’ve been able to cut our payroll of the United States. We’re going to save a lot of money.”
Advertisement
5:40 PMThe White House announces Trump has appointed Missouri Lieutenant Governor Peter Dickson Kinder as Alternate Federal Co-Chairperson of the Delta Regional Authority.6:07 PMThe White House announces Trump has directed his administration to “Use All Appropriate Authority to Respond to Opioid Emergency”7:51 PMTrump expresses his satisfaction with a poll showing his approval rate at 45 percent.
Friday, August 11
2:29 PMTrump issues a press release about the workforce
3:00 PMTrump participates in a workforce/apprenticeship discussion at his golf club. He is joined by Department of Labor secretary Alex Acosta, Department of Education secretary Betsy DeVos, Chief of Staff John Kelly, Deputy Chief of Staff Kristjen Nielseon, daughter Ivanka Trump, son-in-law Jared Kushner, assistant Andrew Bremberg, assistant Rob Porter, and deputy assistant Jessica Ditto.3:32 PMTrump reads “about three minutes of prepared remarks” about workforce development to assembled reporters and announces a new White House Apprentice initiative.3:38 PMThe press conference ends.4:42 PMTrump tweets a story about the workforce.
5:00 PMTrump meets with U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at his golf club.5:43 PMTrump tweets a video of himself talking about the workforce.
Advertisement
5:59 PMTrump holds a press conference from “an entrance at the Trump National Golf Course” and threatens to invade Venezuela.“We have many options for Venezuela, and by the way, I’m not going to rule out a military option. We have many options for Venezuela. This is our neighbor. We’re all over the world and we have troops all over the world in places that are very, very far away,” Trump said. “Venezuela is not very far away and the people are suffering and they’re dying. We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option if necessary.”6:09 PMThe press conference ends.9:35 PMThe White House sends out a press release bragging that Trump has refused to take a phone call from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.10:06 PMTrump tweets a video of himself giving a press conference.
???Trump has a phone call with President Xi Jinping of China. According to the White House, which does not disclose the duration of the call, “The leaders affirmed that the recent adoption of a new United Nations Security Council resolution regarding North Korea was an important and necessary step toward achieving peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. President Trump and President Xi agreed North Korea must stop its provocative and escalatory behavior. The presidents also reiterated their mutual commitment to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. President Trump looks forward to seeing President Xi in China later this year, a meeting that will be a very historic event. The relationship between the two presidents is an extremely close one, and will hopefully lead to a peaceful resolution of the North Korea problem.”
Advertisement
Saturday, August 12
2:00 PMTrump tweets his location (Bedminster) and says the Nazi rally that left one woman dead is “sad,” though he does not specify why.
Advertisement
3:26 PMTrump invites his followers to join him live at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
3:33PMTrump holds a press conference from the “lavish” ballroom of the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster to celebrate his signing of the Veterans Affairs Choice and Quality Employment Act of 2017. The event had been scheduled to begin at 3 p.m., and a group of veterans representatives invited to attend are left standing and waiting for more than 30 minutes. A Washington Post reporter, among the press cordoned off from the ceremony with velvet ropes, notes: “Trump is going to comment on Charlottesville but is first shaking hands.”He speaks about Charlottesville for about four minutes, saying, “We must love each other, respect each other, and cherish our history and our future together. So important. We have to respect each other. Ideally, we have to love each other.”After that, he speaks about the Veterans Affairs Act for about 4.5 minutes.Reporters shout questions about white supremacists at him as he leaves, but he does not respond.3:46 PMThe press conference ends.4:23 PMTrump tweets several videos of himself declining to single out the Nazis for criticism.
6:50 PMTrump tweets his condolences regarding the two officers who died in a helicopter crash as they monitored the Charlottesville protests.
7:25 PMTrump tweets his condolences to the family of the woman killed at a Nazi rally and his “best wishes” to those who were injured, calling the situation “so sad!”
Advertisement
Sunday, August 13
Monday, August 14
6:38 AMTrump endorses Luther Strange in the Republican primary for the Alabama special election to replace former Sen. Jeff Sessions. (The next day, Strange will take second place.)
6:54 AMTrump expresses his displeasure with the Democrats.
8:54 AMTrump expresses his displeasure with Merck Pharmaceuticals CEO Ken Frazier. Frazier, who quit Trump’s economic council over his response to Charlottesville, issued a statement saying, “America’s leaders must honor our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry, and group supremacy.”Trump disagrees.
9:00 AMTrump departs his golf club in New Jersey for the first time in 9 days.
Advertisement
Advertisement
3:07 PMTrump leaves the room without taking any more questions.3:45 PMTrump meets with the National Economic Council in the Blue Room at the White House.5:59 PMThe White House sends out a press release titled, “WHAT THEY ARE SAYING: PRAISE PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP’S MEMORANDUM ON CHINESE TRADE PRACTICES”6:09 PMTrump again expresses his displeasure with Merck Pharmaceuticals.
6:17 PMTrump brags about a “big day in the White House.”
6:22 PMTrump announces he is leaving the White House.
6:29 PMTrump finally calls out the “truly bad people” in the Charlottesville attack — or did he mean the media?
7:03 PMTrump leaves the White House and heads to Joint Base Andrews en route to New York. He is joined by John Kelly and chief economic adviser Gary Cohn.In all, he spent about 8.5 hours in D.C.7:10 PMTrump arrives at Joint Base Andrews.7:20 PMTrump takes off for New York.8:10 PMAir Force One arrives at JFK Airport.8:24 PMTrump gets off the plane.8:25 PMTrump departs JFK in a helicopter.8:45 PMTrump lands at the Wall Street Landing Zone.
Advertisement
11:57 PMTrump retweets a conspiracy theorist who believed a child sex dungeon was operating out of a D.C. pizzeria. Then he later deletes it.
???Trump has a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India. According to the White House, which does not disclose how long they spoke, Trump called “to congratulate the 1.2 billion citizens of India, who will celebrate 70 years of freedom and independence on August 15. The leaders resolved to enhance peace and stability across the Indo-Pacific region by establishing a new 2-by-2 ministerial dialogue that will elevate their strategic consultations. As the leaders of two of the world’s largest and fastest-growing major economies, President Trump and Prime Minister Modi looked forward to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in India this November. President Trump has asked Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump to lead the United States summit delegation. President Trump further welcomed the first ever shipment of American crude oil to India, which will occur from Texas this month, pledging that the United States would continue to be a reliable, long-term supplier of energy. Prime Minister Modi thanked President Trump for his strong leadership uniting the world against the North Korean menace.”
Advertisement
Tuesday, August 15
6:54 AMIn what appears to be an accidental response to his own tweet, Trump references a Fox News segment he just watched.
7:00 AMLess than a day after defending the white supremacist protest where a woman was run over with a car, Trump retweets — and later deletes — an image depicting the “Trump Train” running over a reporter.
8:08 AMTrump again endorses Luther Strange, though the endorsement fails to propel Strange to victory.
11:21 AMTrump expresses his frustration with the growing number of CEOs leaving his economic council — then, without any context, tacks on the word “JOBS!” in capital letters.
1:14 PMHope Hicks, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and Josh Raffel are spotted leaving Trump Tower.1:22 PMSteve Mnuchin is spotted entering Trump Tower.3:00 PMTrump “participates in an infrastructure discussion and signs an Executive Order establishing discipline and accountability in the environmental review and permitting process for infrastructure projects,” according to the White House.3:58 PMTrump gives a speech on infrastructure, and then…Although the press had been advised he would not take questions after, he decides to anyway and spends the bulk of the time emphatically defending the white supremacist movement and repeatedly questioning why the “alt-left” isn’t being blamed for the white supremacist who ran a woman over with his car. Before he leaves, Trump plugs his son’s winery in Charlottesville.
Advertisement
4:21 PMThe press conference ends.5:46 PMTrump issues an executive order on “Establishing Discipline and Accountability in the Environmental Review and Permitting Process for Infrastructure,” according to the White House.
Wednesday, August 16
6:18 AMTrump congratulates the two top Republican finishers in the Alabama special election primary.
7:39 AMTrump compliments Kim Jong Un.
8:39 AMTrump tweets his campaign slogan.
10:51 AMTrump takes credit for Luther Strange’s second-place finish.
11:58 AMTrump acknowledges Heather Heyer — the woman murdered by a white supremacist five days earlier — by name for the first time. The first thing he references is her appearance.
2:00 PMTrump leaves his apartment in New York to return to his golf club in New Jersey.