President Trump’s New Jersey Vacation: What You Need To Know


Controversy seems to follow President Trump wherever he goes, even on vacation. President Trump left Friday for a 17-day vacation away from the White House and Washington. He traveled to Bedminster, New Jersey, which is the home of a Trump golf club, Trump National Bedminster. There, on the grounds of the club, the president “has his own private villa.” There he can also hold meetings during what has been labeled a “working vacation,” according to Business Insider.

The villa, which is more than a mile off of a public road, will be President Trump’s home for the next 17 days. During this time, the White House is scheduled for renovations. This, reports NPR, includes “plans to rehabilitate the West Wing’s heating and air conditioning.” Although there has been criticism of the time away, “the President is going to continue to work,” emphasized Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Walters while aboard Air Force One on Thursday evening. “The staff and the president are moving out, because I don’t think any of you would like to be in the West Wing on an August D.C. summer day when it’s over 100 degrees with no air conditioning,” Walters explained.

Trump National Bedminster has recent headlines of its own, aside from its famous owner. Just last month, the club hosted the U.S. Women’s Open, which was won by Sung Hyun Park from South Korea. The United States Golf Association website says it was her first major.

PODS sit outside the West Wing of the White House as renovations start during the president’s 17-day summer vacation. [Image by Laurie Kellman/AP Images]

But what is on President Trump’s schedule during this “working vacation”? Let’s take a look at four things the president currently has on his agenda.

The Plugging of Leaks

While the White House renovations may be fixing leaks of one sort, leaks of another kind are also being addressed. New White House Chief of Staff John Kelly is actively working on plugging leaks of information that have plagued the Trump White House from day one. Mr. Kelly, who assumed his new role this past Monday, has informed White House staff that “if you leak, there will be consequences,” reports The Hill.

Also, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a new government-wide initiative to address leakers. It “will include a review of the Justice Department’s policies on subpoenas for media outlets that publish sensitive information,” according to another article from The Hill.

The War on MS-13

Last week, President Trump visited Long Island, which has been a haven for MS-13 gang members. In the last 18 months, the gang “has been implicated in nearly 20 killings.” The president will continue to apply pressure to Congress for immigration funding, “key to stamping out the gang,” according to the Washington Times.

MS-13 is a gang with its original roots in such Central American countries as El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. It was sanctioned by the Obama administration as “a transnational criminal organization – the first such designation for a street gang.” CNN reports that it is “a particularly violent and brutal criminal organization — whose preferred weapon is machetes.”

The Fight to Fix Obamacare

With Congress now on summer recess, having left without an Obamacare fix, President Trump still has no solution to what appears to be a growing health care problem. The president has “made several threats to end what he calls ‘bailouts’ for insurers and is paying the [Affordable Care Act] subsidies on a month-to-month basis.” But he now has a “coalition of attorneys general from 17 states and the District of Columbia” to deal with. A U.S. Court of Appeals judge this week ruled they “could intervene in the case,” which would give them a chance to “defend the legality of the subsidies in the case and sue Trump if he tries to stop them,” reports CNN Money.

The North Korean Threat

North Korean activity has been widely reported in recent weeks, and U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster is warning not to ignore the regime’s activities, even going so far as to emphasize in an interview with MSNBC that “it’s impossible to overstate the danger associated with a rogue, brutal regime.” North Korea has recently had two “successful tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles,” according to Fox News.

With Mr. Trump seeming to have had limited success in receiving help from China in restraining North Korea, this may be an additional agenda item during the president’s vacation.

Recent photo of National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster with President Trump. McMaster has warned not to ignore North Korea’s activities. [Image by Evan Vucci/AP Images]

While the president’s break is slated for 17-days, it does appear that he has plenty on his plate to keep him busy. And if he doesn’t finish with his to-do list while in Bedminster, he can come home to a newly renovated West Wing when his stay in New Jersey is over.

[Featured Image by Evan Vucci/AP Images]

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