Politics

News Outlets Say Trump Neglected Dorian News While Golfing. WH Says He Was Getting Hourly Updates

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  • Various major news outlets and politicians criticized President Donald Trump for golfing on Saturday amid Hurricane Dorian threats.
  • Trump traveled to Camp David for a meeting with FEMA on Saturday morning before heading to his Virginia club for a round of golf and then returning to Camp David later that day.
  • White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said the president “participated in several phone calls” and was briefed with hourly hurricane updates throughout Saturday.

Dozens of major and local news outlets, as well as a number of politicians, criticized President Donald Trump for golfing at his Virginia club on Saturday while Hurricane Dorian loomed.

The now-Category 2 hurricane is making its way up the East Coast of the United States and is expected to hit Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas the hardest, according to CBS News.

Trump canceled a weekend trip to Poland, which was commemorating the anniversary of the start of World War II, to instead visit presidential retreat, Camp David, in Maryland and meet with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials Saturday to discuss the hurricane and response options.

Trump met with officials in the morning, then traveled to his private golf club via helicopter for several hours in the afternoon and returned to Camp David for another meeting on Saturday evening, CBSN reported.

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said the president “participated in several phone calls” and was briefed with hourly hurricane updates throughout Saturday, on top of his two meetings with FEMA officials at Camp David.

Various major news outlets criticized Trump’s golf trip amid the looming hurricane throughout the long weekend:

  1. “Video appears to show Trump golfing in Virginia in the run-up to catastrophic Hurricane Dorian” — Business Insider
  2. “Trump said he skipped a diplomatic trip to monitor Hurricane Dorian. Then he spent the weekend golfing” — Business Insider
  3. “Trump went golfing as Hurricane Dorian threatens US” — CNN
  4. “Trump once again spends the day at his Virginia golf course as Florida braces for ‘catastrophic’ hurricane” — New York Daily News
  5. “Trump Spends Labor Day Tweeting, Golfing as Hurricane Dorian Threatens U.S.” — Slate
  6. “Trump Doesn’t Let Massive Hurricane Disrupt His Very Important Golf Game” — Splinter
  7. “President Trump Seen at the Golf Course While Hurricane Dorian Approaches the U.S.” — TIME
  8. “Trump travels to Trump National Golf Course as Hurricane Dorian crawls toward US” — USA Today
  9. “Trump Blows Off Hurricane Prep For Golf, Debra Messing Feud” — Vanity Fair
  10. “Another Day of Golfing, Tweets for Trump as Hurricane Dorian Threatens Millions” — VOA News

Some politicians also took to Twitter to condemn the president.

Most recently London Mayor Sadiq Khan mocked Trump for canceling his trump to Poland, saying he was “clearly busy dealing with a hurricane out on the golf course” in a Politico London interview.

“The incompetent Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, was bothered that I played a very fast round of golf yesterday. Many Pols exercise for hours, or travel for weeks. Me, I run through one of my courses (very inexpensive). President Obama would fly to Hawaii,” Trump said in response to Khan’s comments Tuesday on Twitter.

“Kahn should focus on ‘knife crime,’ which is totally out of control in London. People are afraid to even walk the streets. He is a terrible mayor who should stay out of our business!” the president added.

Hawaii Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz voiced his criticism of the president Sunday on Twitter, writing, “I hate to be what if Obama did it guy but seriously what if Obama did it.” (RELATED: Taxpayer Tab For Obama Trip That Included Golf With Tiger Woods: $3.6 Million)

“Donald Trump is playing a LOT of golf in order to prepare for this hurricane,” Schatz added in a later tweet.

“A Category 4 hurricane is headed toward the East Coast and Donald Trump canceled his trip so he could monitor his golf handicap,” DNC Chairman Tom Perez wrote in a Monday tweet.

“Given the hurricane, I thought it was lamentable but understandable for Trump to cancel his trip to Poland. But for him to then go and play golf? Really? I hope Polish-Americans voters remember this act of disrespect on one of the most solemn anniversaries in Polish history,” former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul tweeted Monday.

The president additionally participated in a FEMA briefing on the hurricane at the agency’s Washington headquarters on Sunday, ABC reported.

Dorian pummeled the Bahamas as a Category 5 hurricane on Sunday, dialing down to a powerful Category 4 on Monday with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph, killing at least five people, according to CBSN.

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