Trump marks King day out of view

President Donald Trump marked his first Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday Monday largely out of public view, buffeted by accusations that he used a racially tinged word to describe African countries and scoffed at the suggestion of admitting more Haitians to the U.S.

Trump decamped to his Florida estate for the long weekend, spending hours each day at his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.

On Friday, before he departed the White House, Trump encouraged the public “to observe this day with acts of civic work and community service in honour of Dr. King’s extraordinary life ... and his great legacy” as he signed a proclamation recognizing Monday as the national holiday honouring the slain civil rights leader. King’s family also urges the public to perform civic work and acts of kindness.

Trump dedicated his weekly address to the nation, released Monday, to King.

“Dr. King’s dream is our dream, it is the American dream, it’s the promise stitched into the fabric of our nation, etched into the hearts of our people and written into the soul of humankind,” Trump said in the address, which he also tweeted out to his followers.

“It is the dream of a world where people are judged by who they are, not how they look or where they come from,” the president said.

Trump’s tribute followed the firestorm that ensued last week after he was accused of using the word “shithole” to describe African countries and seeming to balk at admitting more Haitians to the U.S. He voiced a desire for more immigrants from countries like Norway. Trump is said to have made the comments in the Oval Office during a meeting about immigration with a bipartisan group of senators.