Trump, in Palm Beach, claims he’s vindicated
He tweets on way to golf course that recently released memo shows Russia investigation just a ‘witch hunt.’
President Trump’s first public comment on the Nunes memo came Saturday morning in a tweet he posted en route to his golf course in unincorporated West Palm Beach: “This memo totally vindicates “Trump” in probe.”
In the tweet, the president again described the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election as a “witch hunt,” adding there was “no Collusion” between his campaign and Russian officials and “no Obstruction” of the investigation. “This is an American disgrace!”
In another tweet posted on his way to the club, Trump hailed a new poll that he said showed he had a 49 percent approval rating and blamed the media for failing to write about it.
The president then spent five hours at his golf club before returning to Mar-aLago mid-afternoon. The president, first lady and their 11-year-old son, Barron, arrived at Palm Beach International Airport about 7 p.m. Friday.
Saturday would have been the annual Red Cross Ball at Mar-a-Lago — one of the most prestigious fundraisers of the social season, perennially attended by diplomats, philanthropists and women in tiaras. The Red Cross cancelled the event after the president’s controversial comments about deadly violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., last year, where an Ohio man linked to white supremacist groups plowed his car into a crowd, killing a 32-year-old woman.
Backlash was swift after the president blamed “both sides” for the violence. More than 20 charities cancelled their fundraisers at Mar-aLago in protest. The Red Cross Ball was the most notable. Marjorie Merriweather Post, the cereal heiress who built Mar-a-Lago with her husband, banker Edward Francis Hutton, first held the event at Mar-a-Lago in 1957. Last year, just two weeks after his inauguration, the president and first
lady attended the event.
Among the few remaining big-ticket events at Mara-Lago this season was a campaign fundraiser and inauguration party for the president Jan. 20. The $100,000-per-couple ticket included a photo opportunity with the president. However, the president canceled the visit amid the government shutdown. A do-over has been scheduled at Mara-Lago on March 3. Ticket prices have dropped.
According to an invitation first flagged by FloridaPolitics.com, those who contribute $2,700 get to attend a reception; those who raise $25,000 (in increments not to exceed $5,400) get two seats for a dinner with Trump; and $50,000 bundlers get two dinner tickets and a photo. The fundraiser coincides with the RNC’s annual spring retreat, with 200 to 300 major GOP donors expected to visit an undisclosed location in Palm Beach.
Today, the president likely will return to his golf course outside West Palm Beach for more golf and his annual Super Bowl party. Last year, the president left the party during the third quarter, missing the New England Patriots’ epic comeback against the Atlanta Falcons. This year, he also will miss the end of the game. FAA alerts to pilots indicate Air Force One will leave Palm Beach International Airport around 9:30 p.m. The game is not expected to end until around 10 p.m.