President Donald Trump canceled his weekend trip to his Bedminster Golf Club on Friday, just a few hours before leaving aboard Air Force One, and said he wanted “to ensure that law and order are enforced.” in the country’s capital. “
“Arsonists, anarchists, looters and agitators have been largely detained,” he tweeted. “I am doing what is necessary to keep our communities safe, and these people will be brought to justice!”
Trump has highlighted the outbreaks of violence following the death of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police, despite the fact that most of the protests were peaceful and polls said they were supported by the majority of Americans.
He has threatened to veto legislation passed by the House of Representatives that responds to the murder of Floyd and the death of other unarmed blacks at the hands of the police by making it easier to hold law enforcement officers accountable for their actions, banning the profile racial and religious and ban bottlenecks.
The White House initially gave no reason for the cancellation, which was announced on an updated calendar.
But spokesman Judd Deere said the decision “had nothing to do” with Governor Phil Murphy’s decision to quarantine visitors arriving at the State Garden from coronavirus hot spots, according to reports from the House pool. Blanca.
Murphy joined Govs. New York’s Andrew Cuomo and Connecticut’s Ned Lamont on Wednesday asked nine other states to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival. The list included Arizona, where Trump held a campaign rally on Tuesday.
Deere previously said the order would not apply to Trump, who is regularly tested for the coronavirus with his aides and anyone else nearby.
“The President of the United States is not a civilian,” he said. “With respect to Arizona, the White House followed its COVID mitigation plan to ensure that the President did not come into contact with anyone who was symptomatic or who had not been examined.”
Murphy agreed that Trump was not included in his order.
“There is a separation for essential workers and I believe, by any definition, the President of the United States is an essential worker,” the governor said on CNN. “And I know that people test themselves around him all the time.”
In his daily coronavirus briefing on Friday, the governor repeated his earlier statement and said he did not know why Trump canceled the trip.
This is the second time Trump has canceled a planned trip to Bedminster in the last minute of this month. He also canceled a weekend visit on June 5.
Trump visited his golf club two weeks ago, when he dined with Murphy, raised money for his reelection committee and national and state Republican parties, and turned 74.
Since becoming president, Trump has spent many weekends in Bedminster during the warmer months and at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, during the colder months.
He has spent 94 days at Bedminster during his presidency, behind only 133 days at Mar-a-Lago, according to NBC News.
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Jonathan D. Salant can be reached in [email protected]. Follow him on @JDSalant.
