UPDATE 7:20 p.m.: President Trump landed in Washington at 6:21 p.m., according to White House pool reports. Trump was asked by reporters if he planned to watch tonight’s 60 minutes episode featuring Stormy Daniels. He declined comment.
UPDATE 4 p.m.: Air Force One has departed Palm Beach International Airport. The president was seen boarding Air Force One alone, without the first lady or their 12-year-old son Barron. The White House confirmed the first lady will stay at Mar-a-Lago for spring break, a family tradition.
The president and his family will likely gather a Mar-a-Lago next weekend to celebrate Easter.
UPDATE 2:01 p.m.: The president has returned to Mar-a-Lago after nearly five hours at Trump International Golf Club, his private club in suburban West Palm Beach.
He is expected to leave by 4 p.m. today to return to Washington. The first lady will remain in Palm Beach for spring break and Easter, a family tradition.
UPDATE 12:39 a.m.: Eleven days after she filed for divorce from her husband of 12 years, Vanessa, Donald Trump Jr. and their kids appear to be together in Palm Beach this weekend.
Donald T Jr. was spotted at a CrossFit gym in West Palm Beach this morning. Several hours earlier, Vanessa tweeted that she was at the beach with the couple’s two youngest children, Chloe and Spencer. The couple have five children.
Vanessa also tweeted a photo of palm trees last Tuesday, saying, “It’s time for Spring Break with my kiddies!”
Although neither of her tweets identify her location, other social media posts by Donald Jr. today and last week show him golfing with Chloe and deep-sea fishing with their son.
The White House confirmed this morning that first lady Melania Trump will not return to Washington with the president today, but will remain at Mar-a-Lago as is the family’s tradition of spending spring break and Easter in Palm Beach.
UPDATE 10:45 a.m.: While President Donald Trump is at his golf course and staying out of the public eye this morning, his friend and Mar-a-Lago Club member Chris Ruddy appeared on ABC News this morning to tamp down reports of a chaotic White House and report that Trump sees his administration running like a “smooth machine.”
But Ruddy, a West Palm Beach resident and CEO of the conservative, Boca Raton-based Newsmax Media, also told ABC’s Martha Raddatz to expect another major change or two in the Trump administration.
“The president told me he’s perplexed by all these reports there’s chaos at the White House or mass staff changes. He told me that he thinks the White House is operating like a smooth machine – his words,” said Ruddy.
“He did say that he’s expecting to make one or two major changes to his government very soon, and that’s going to be it. Now other White House sources, not the president, tell me the Veterans Affairs Secretary, David Shulkin, is likely to depart the Cabinet very soon. But other reports – people like Ben Carson, I’m told that the president is happy with the job he’s doing, he will be staying. Chief of Staff (John) Kelly – the president is happy with the job he is doing. He will be staying.”
Ruddy was dismissive of “all of these fake news reports saying there’s turmoil and chaos.”
PHOTOS: President Trump comes to Palm Beach for one-day trip on March 2, 2017
UPDATE 8:58 a.m.: The president has arrived at his private golf club in suburban West Palm Beach.
UPDATE 8:45 a.m.: In his fourth and fifth tweets today the president circled back to the Russia investigation, claiming there was “NO COLLUSION” and that he won’t have trouble finding new legal counsel because “Fame & fortune will NEVER be turned down by a lawyer.”
John Dowd, the president’s chief lawyer handing the Russia probe quit Thursday. Several unnamed Trump advisers told the Washington Post that the president is having trouble finding top-notch lawyers willing to represent him.
UPDATE 7:36 a.m:. In three pre-dawn tweets from Mar-a-Lago, the president
praised a French police officer who died after swapping places with a hostage and then demanded that United States “Build a wall through M!” – apparently referring to a wall between the two countries.
COMPLETE COVERAGE: Donald Trump in Palm Beach
TRUMP CAM: » Trump cam: Live view of Mar-a-Lago
The president is expected to leave mid-afternoon. His plans until then are not known. The weather forecast in Palm Beach calls for clear skies with a high of 79-degrees.
The president took a break from Twitter yesterday after spending about 5 hours after his golf course in suburban West Palm Beach on Saturday.
His motorcade took a detour from its usual route on its way back to Mar-a-Lago, avoiding hundreds of gun-control advocates participating in March for Our Lives.
The White House issued a statement about the march on Saturday. However, the president did not comment or tweet about the nationwide march.
Twitter confirmed that 3.3 million tweets were posted on Saturday using the hashtag #MarchForOurLives, according to Axios.
Thousands attend March for Our Lives march from Dreher Park to Flagler Drive Saturday March 24, 2018 in West Palm Beach. Marchers are calling for an end gun violence and mass shootings schools. (Meghan McCarthy / The Palm Beach Post)
Meghan McCarthy
