President Trump left the White House Thursday without taking any questions from reporters, in his first public appearance following the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
The White House press pool was gathered on the South Lawn of the White House, where he commonly speaks with reporters, in anticipation of remarks by the president ahead of his departure for Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach, Fla., golf club.
Potus leaves with Flotus without addressing press #MuellerReport pic.twitter.com/3eUf17hwmS
— Rob Crilly (@robcrilly) April 18, 2019
The Department of Justice released the more than 400-page redacted Mueller report Thursday morning. Mueller did not find collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government and found that no American assisted Russia in its attempts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
Mueller stopped short of making a determination about whether Trump obstructed justice, however, despite investigating 10 different instances of possible obstruction.
While he did not stop to speak to reporters following the release of the report, Trump held a press conference Thursday morning before the report was made public. He said he was having a good day, insisted there was no collusion and no obstruction, and said he wanted to get to the bottom of the Mueller report.
“This should never happen to another president again,” Trump said. “This hoax, it should never happen to another president again.”
