White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that President Trump’s time spent on the golf course has helped him develop ‘deeper and better relationships with members of Congress.’
‘In which those relationships have helped push forward the president’s agenda, specifically when it comes to helping get the tax reform and tax cuts passed,’ she told reporters at Tuesday’s press briefing after being asked about what achievements he’s accomplished for the American people while on the green.
Monday marked the president’s 91st trip to a golf club, according to NBC News’ tracker, though the White House has a habit of not always confirming that Trump is playing the game.
President Trump is seen Friday at his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked Tuesday what the president has accomplished for the American people on the golf course
Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that the president had formed ‘deeper and better relationships with members of Congress’ from playing the game and it helped get tax reform through
Only a few members of Congress are known to have played with the president, as the White House doesn’t always release the president’s golf partners’ names to the media. Here President Trump hosts members of the Coast Guard to his course
The president often kept reporters and photographers away from his golf game over the holiday break, except for the day he hosted members of the U.S. Coast Guard to the West Palm Beach club
The press office often won’t tell reporters who Trump is playing with, which is a departure from how things were handled during President Obama’s tenure, when the White House would consistently name the Democrat’s golf partners.
‘I think it’s the press that has an issue with his time on the course,’ Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday when pressed for greater transparency.
Huckabee Sanders said that Trump has played golf with ‘a number’ of senators, though pool reports indicate that the president has only played with a handful, mainly Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham, Rand Paul, Bob Corker and David Perdue.
‘I think we’ve had an extremely successful 2017, and some of that is due to the relationship-building that he was able to do there,’ she said of Trump’s time on the golf course.
During his most recent golf-heavy winter break, President Trump flew to Florida on the Friday before Christmas and on Saturday the White House confirmed that he was playing golf with pros Jim Herman, Daniel Berger, Justin Thomas and Thomas’ father.
‘He has not scheduled public events for the afternoon,’ a White House spokeswoman said.
On Sunday, Christmas Eve, the president participated in a tele-conference with military members at Mar-a-Lago before his motorcade again headed to the golf course.
On that day Trump’s golf partners weren’t named.
The president took Christmas Day off and then took a trip to his golf club every day for the next week, including on New Year’s Day before boarding Air Force One and heading back to D.C.
The details the White House released each day varied.
On Tuesday the White House confirmed the president was golfing and gave out his golf partners, which included the sole lawmaker he would play the game with while in Florida, Georgia Republican Sen. David Perdue.
Also joining the president were PGA tour player Bryson DeChambau and former PGA player Dana Quigley.
On Wednesday, Trump once again took his motorcade to the golf club, but the White House wouldn’t confirm whether he golfed.
This was the day that a large white truck tried to obfuscate CNN’s view of the Trump course.
On Thursday, the White House refused DailyMail.com’s request for details on what Trump was doing at the golf club, even though CNN had video of the president on the course.
And then, on Friday, the president invited members of the U.S. Coast Guard to the golf club.
On Saturday, Trump’s motorcade went to his golf club again, but the White House wouldn’t confirm any details.
On Sunday, New Year’s Eve, the White House announced that the president would have lunch with Florida Gov. Rick Scott, which likely happened at the golf club – as that’s where the president spent most of the day.
Beyond that, the White House wouldn’t say whether he was golfing.
Kicking off 2018, Trump returned to the golf club on New Year’s Day, with the White House informing the press pool that the president was playing with father-and-son golfers, Fred Funk, of the PGA, and Taylor Funk.
The president returned to Washington that night.
Each day reporters were kept waiting at an IHOP and a local library where the president was out of sight.
Both Fred and Taylor Funk appeared on CNN Tuesday morning and were asked if the president looked busy with work while on the course.
Taylor Funk, the younger of the Funks, said no.
‘It was all golf,’ he answered. ‘He was fully in the moment and with us … I feel like whatever he’s doing, he’s doing 100 per cent at that time,’ Funk said of the president.
‘He wanted to play good golf and we wanted to watch him play good golf,’ Funk continued. ‘It was a lot of fun because he actually did play some good golf, and was getting excited making some putts.’