Donald Trump Retreats To Trump Tower For ‘Executive Time’ As Formal Impeachment Begins
Donald Trump has retreated to Trump Tower in what is a rare visit to his former home in Manhattan — one that comes just as formal impeachment hearings against him are set to begin.
As Chris Megerian of the Los Angeles Times reported, Trump headed to Trump Tower on Tuesday afternoon for what is being described as “executive time,” just as Democrats in Washington announced the start of a formal impeachment inquiry related to his reported attempts to pressure Ukraine into digging up dirt on a political opponent. Reports indicated that Trump withheld $400 million in military aid to Ukraine and pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky into investigating the business dealings of Hunter Biden, the son of presidential candidate Joe Biden.
Trump spent much of Tuesday afternoon sounding off on Twitter, declaring that the impeachment hearings are “presidential harassment” and accusing Democrats of leading a witch hunt against him. Democrats have pushed for the release of the whistleblower report that reportedly detailed Trump’s actions related to Ukraine, and on Tuesday, Trump announced that he would release the “complete, fully declassified and unredacted” transcript of his phone call with President Zelensky.
The visit to Trump Tower did not come as a total surprise given the president’s schedule this week. Trump was already in New York on Tuesday to deliver a speech to the U.N. General Assembly, where he launched attacks against those he claimed were pushing for open borders and warned Iran to abandon its confrontational tact.
It was not clear from the White House press pool how long he intended to stay at Trump Tower. Donald Trump has spent much of his presidency staying at his company’s resorts, though his trips to New York have been rare. Trump has spent the majority of his time away from Washington at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida when it is in season, frequently spending weekends there and golfing at his company’s course.
The report of Trump’s time at Trump Tower drew some pushback, especially its mention of “executive time.” As The Inquisitr had previously reported, the White House has used the phrase “executive time” as a euphemism for the unstructured time that Trump largely spends tweeting, calling friends, and watching television. One leaked scheduled showed that Trump had close to 100 hours of executive time each month.
Watching Nancy Pelosi announce impeachment proceedings while sitting in the bar at Trump Tower is … unexpected. Drinking water FWIW. pic.twitter.com/dWKb8jVKx2
— Anne Rumsey Gearan (@agearan) September 24, 2019
Some reporters inside Trump Tower noted that while Donald Trump was spending time in his home, Nancy Pelosi’s announcement of the start of the formal impeachment hearings was playing on televisions in the bar.
