Trump blasts FBI, Clinton, before touting tax cut
PALM BEACH, Fla. — After a quiet Christmas Day, President Trump was back at work — on Twitter, and on the golf course.
Trump began his day on Twitter, criticizing the FBI and claiming the now-famous dossier containing allegations about his connections to Russia and possible coordination between his campaign and the Kremlin is a “pile of garbage.” Trump, who is vacationing at his private estate in Mar-a-Lago, appeared to be watching and quoting from the morning cable-news show “Fox and Friends” while tweeting.
“WOW, @foxandfrlends ‘Dossier is bogus. Clinton Campaign, DNC funded Dossier. FBI CANNOT (after all of this time) VERIFY CLAIMS IN DOSSIER OF RUSSIA/TRUMP COLLUSION. FBI TAINTED.’ And they used this Crooked Hillary pile of garbage as the basis for going after the Trump Campaign!” Trump tweeted.
The Hillary Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee helped fund the dossier, which was first published by BuzzFeed in January. Officials have said that some of the information it contains has been corroborated, but other parts — including the most-salacious claims about Trump’s behavior — remain unverified.
Also Tuesday morning, Trump touted the tax-cut bill he signed last week and took a jab at the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
“Based on the fact that the very unfair and unpopular Individual Mandate has been terminated as part of our Tax Cut Bill, which essentially Repeals (over time) ObamaCare,” Trump tweeted, “the Democrats & Republicans will eventually come together and develop a great new HealthCare plan!”
Trump also tweeted: “All signs are that business is looking really good for next year, only to be helped further by our Tax Cut Bill. Will be a great year for Companies and JOBS! Stock Market is poised for another year of SUCCESS!”
A day earlier, the president had sent out Christmas wishes, implying that the remainder of his holiday vacation in Florida would be of the working variety.
“I hope everyone is having a great Christmas, then tomorrow it’s back to work in order to Make America Great Again,” Trump tweeted.
But the president’s motorcade left his Mar-aLago resort just before 9 a.m. Tuesday en route to the nearby Trump International Golf Club, where he hit the links with Republican Sen. David Perdue of Georgia, Bryson DeChambau, a PGA Tour player, and former PGA player Dana Quigley, according to officials.
The time at the club on Tuesday marked Trump’s 85th visit to one of his golf properties as president, according to a tally kept by NBC News.
Despite his prolific complaints about former President Barack Obama’s love of hitting the links, Trump is on track to spend as much as triple the time Obama did on the golf course in his first year in office.
During his 2016 campaign, Trump promised he would largely give up the game if he were elected president.
“I’m going to be working for you. I’m not going to have time to go play golf. Believe me,” Trump said during a 2016 rally. He also promised he would not take vacations because there would be too much work to do.
Trump is expected to remain at his Palm Beach estate through the new year.