President-elect Trump left his press pool behind on Saturday for a game of golf at his club in Jupiter, Fla.
Reporters seemed to be caught off guard by the last-minute trip, according to pool reports. Trump spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham told the Associated Press that not even she or other aides were aware that Trump had made the half hour trip from his Mar-a-Lago estate where he’d been spending the holidays.
“We are in the home stretch of this transition period and don’t anticipate any additional situations like this between now and inauguration,” Grisham said in a statement. “We hope this one incident doesn’t negate all the progress we have made and look forward to continuing the great relationships we have built.”
The press, which are typically allowed to follow the sitting president wherever he goes, didn’t learn of the golf trip until a club member posted a photo on Twitter of Trump playing Saturday morning and said he was accompanied by about two dozen Secret Service agents.
According to Grisham, the president-elect arrived back at Mar-a-Lago at about 3:10 p.m. local time.
Trump has left his press pool behind on other occasions, including for a dinner with his family in Manhattan shortly after his election. His staffers appear aware of the frustration he’s caused reporters, recently allowing them more access at Mar-a-Lago and providing more information about his meeting schedule.
