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On Saturday, November 7, at a time when CNN declared Joe Biden the winner of the election four days earlier, US President Donald Trump was playing golf. We know for sure, because Trump was photographed in those minutes by at least three photographers who followed him with difficulty: they were hundreds of meters away, on the other side of a river and in a different state, but somehow they managed to take some of the pictures. most important photos of the year.
Photojournalist Al Drago, photographer from AP Pat Semansky and the photographer of the Washington Post Jabin Botsford spoke about how things were that day and how they found themselves taking the photos that became one of the symbols of the 2020 election. As the entire world reacted to the news of Biden’s election, Trump apparently quietly walked among the holes of his golf course in Sterling, Virginia.
Drago, Semansky and Botsford are part of the group of photographers who routinely photograph Donald Trump when he is in the White House or near Washington. They are used, when necessary, to anticipate or follow the president’s movements. Last Saturday, almost four days had passed since election day, it was already clear that Joe Biden’s victory, but the main US networks had not yet sanctioned it and the news was expected.
What Trump would do that day was unclear, but Semansky, who for AP He spends every weekend at the White House, he had an intuition. Every day the White House press office sends all reporters and photographers a schedule of the president’s meetings with the press, and that day the arrival of Trump was updated with a later message. It was Saturday, the weather was nice, and Semansky thought Trump would probably decide to spend a few hours playing golf, a sport he is notoriously passionate about and played a lot during his presidency.
The Trump National Golf Club of Washington is located on the outskirts of the city along the Potomac River, which separates Virginia from Maryland. Photographing Trump when he’s there has been a big deal for the past four years, he explained. Washington Post. Journalists are not allowed to enter the camp area, which is surrounded by tall trees and on one side is protected by the Potomac, nearly 600 meters wide at that point. Photographers often have to try to take their place on the other side of the river and be satisfied with how little you see from there.
At 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, November 7, Semansky reached the point where he can see the field. He wrote a message to Drago, who had already taken photos from there: he was still in the car, but he arrived accompanied by his girlfriend and with binoculars, already knowing the difficulty of orienting himself at that distance. When it emerged shortly before 11:30 that CNN had attributed the victory to Biden, Botsford was still in the car: the other two photographers, using the longest telephoto lenses they possess, began shooting.
At 11:45 a.m., Trump was seen and photographed for the first time on the golf course. He wore a cap that read “Make America Great Again,” the motto of his first campaign, and he seemed calm. All three photographers said it was unclear if he had already received the news even though it appeared that a couple of times he checked his phone and answered at least one phone call.
Following Trump’s movements from almost a kilometer away was not easy. The photographers struggled to make out the small group of players that Trump was a part of and every time the president moved, they too had to move, running along the riverbank.
It’s amazing to see how American photojournalists @al_drago and Pat Semansky had the opportunity to @realDonaldTrump play golf while the elections were called @Joe Biden.
So much effort! Great job! pic.twitter.com/1VwfwRujaz
– Mathias Peer (@mpeer) November 8, 2020
They were so far from anything that might appear to be a subject of photographs, that several passersby stopped them to ask what birds they were photographing, with such long lenses. And because of the lenses used and the distance, the photos taken by Drago, Semansky and Botsford had to be cropped to make it clear who Trump was, and they are all grainy. They are not photos, no bellebut as Botsford said, they are probably “historical” photographs.
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