{"id":10132,"date":"2017-02-12T21:17:00","date_gmt":"2017-02-12T21:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2017\/02\/12\/trump-navigates-the-hazard-of-presidential-golf-outings\/"},"modified":"2017-02-12T21:17:00","modified_gmt":"2017-02-12T21:17:00","slug":"trump-navigates-the-hazard-of-presidential-golf-outings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/trump-navigates-the-hazard-of-presidential-golf-outings\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Navigates The Hazard Of Presidential Golf Outings"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Arnie Seipel<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n President Trump and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe play golf at Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Fla., on Saturday.<\/p>\n

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JIJI PRESS\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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JIJI PRESS\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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President Trump played golf this weekend, but he wanted to make it clear that he was not just kicking back and relaxing.<\/p>\n

“The President enjoyed hosting Prime Minister Abe on the golf course today, which was both relaxing and productive,” the White House said in a statement. “They had great conversations on a wide range of subjects.”<\/p>\n

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Played golf today with Prime Minister Abe of Japan and @TheBig_Easy<\/a>, Ernie Els, and had a great time. Japan is very well represented!<\/p>\n

\u2014 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 11, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe joined Trump at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla., for the weekend, and the two played a round with South African golfer Ernie Els at the Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Fla., on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The press was not allowed to cover Trump’s outing, though the Washington Post obtained some cellphone video of the president appearing to tee off on Saturday.<\/p>\n

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It’s important for Trump to let it be known that his golf outing is a working<\/em> golf outing, lest he be charged with hypocrisy.<\/p>\n

Tee times have been a source of partisan attacks on presidents in recent years. Trump himself was a vocal critic of the amount of time President Obama played golf, falsely suggesting in 2015 that Obama played 250 rounds in one year. Politifact noted<\/a> that the figure was Obama’s golf record over seven years.<\/p>\n

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