Donald Trump has breakfast meeting at his golf course but does NOT play while Baghdad embassy burns

Donald Trump has breakfast meeting at his golf course but does NOT play while Baghdad embassy burns—as aide says it would have been ‘the mother of all bad optics’

  • Trump went to his West Palm Beach, Fla. golf course as usual on Tuesday
  • Instead of a 5-hour round of golf, he stayed about 45 minutes for a breakfast meeting that he was was focused ‘on the Middle East, the Military, and Trade’
  • He went right back to Mar-a-Lago 
  • An aide said playing golf would have been ‘the mother of all bad optics’ on a day when the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Iraq came under attack 

Donald Trump made the familiar motorcade trek Tuesday to the West Palm Beach, Florida golf course that bears his name. But instead of trying to break par, he took a breakfast meeting related to the ‘Middle East, the Military and Trade,’ according to a message on his Twitter feed–and returned to his Mar-a-Lago resort.

The president has visited Trump International Golf Course every day of his Christmas vacation so far, save Christmas Day itself. He dodged rain showers to fit in a few holes at a ime, according to a source at the course. On Tuesday he spent less than an hour there.

It’s unclear who he met for breakfast at Trump International, but he arrived in golf attire. Trump devoted much of his morning to intelligence briefings following an Iran-linked jihadi attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. 

That context was the wrong one in which to squeeze in 18 holes of golf, a White House official said, calling it ‘the mother of all bad optics.’

Donald Trump is pictured heading to his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida on Tuesday; he didn’t play golf on a day when the U.S. embassy in Baghdad was the scene of military operations following a jihadi attack

Trump has made the 4-1/2 mile motorcade trip from Mar-a-Lago to Trump International Golf Club every day during his vacation

Trump has made the 4-1/2 mile motorcade trip from Mar-a-Lago to Trump International Golf Club every day during his vacation 

It's not clear how manyn rounds of golf the president played this month in Florida since rains have dogged the Sunshine State

It’s not clear how manyn rounds of golf the president played this month in Florida since rains have dogged the Sunshine State

‘And plus,’ the official added, ‘there’s too much going on today.’

Trump tweeted upon his return to Mar-a-Lago, seemingly eager to assure Americans that he wasn’t teeing off.

‘Very good meeting on the Middle East, the Military, and Trade,’ he wrote of his visit to Trump International, less than 5 miles from his resort. ‘Heading back to The Southern White House (Mar-a-Lago!). Updates throughout the day.’

The president didn’t say why the meeting took place at the golf course. A senior administration official said privacy concerns were a factor.

The usual pool of White House reporters joined the line of armored vehicles leaving the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort Tuesday morning and broke off, as usual, when Trump reached the golf course.

But instead of holing up at a nearby library and waiting for hours in anticipation of the president’s movements, reporters were offered only a brief bathroom break. Then it was back to the streets of West Palm Beach for a brisk return.

Trump has visited his eponymous golf course nine times since arriving the night of December 20.

He has played with South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and former South Carolina congressman Trey Gowdy.

The president will host his annual New Year’s Eve party at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday night.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk