WASHINGTON — President Trump is vacationing at his New Jersey resort because the White House is undergoing extensive renovations, administration officials said Tuesday.
Officials released a full list of the projects, which they said include updating West Wing bathrooms that haven’t been touched in “approximately 40 years.”
Upgrades were also being made to the West Wing elevator and the Navy Mess Kitchen.
In the residence, workers were patching a crack in the East Room ceiling, which poses a safety risk to the first family, officials said.
Rotting wood on the arbor in the Jackie Kennedy Garden was also be replaced. And several aging doors and windows were to be swapped out.
All the materials used were made in the United States.
“Many of the renovations have been planned for several years and are critical to be completed now,” said a White House fact sheet.
It’s been customary for presidents to take summer vacation, with former President Obama traveling to Martha’s Vineyard in August for 7 of the 8 years of his presidency. He missed only 2012, while running for re-election.
George W. Bush would spend his Augusts at his Crawford, Texas ranch, while Bill Clinton also rented a place on Martha’s Vineyard. George H.W. Bush would often head to the family house in Kennebunkport, Maine, in the summer months.
And while the opposing political party has occasionally pointed to a presidential vacation as proof that the commander-in-chief is asleep at the wheel, then-candidate Trump frequently criticized Obama for vacationing and playing golf.
“@BarackObama played golf yesterday. Now he heads to a 10 day vacation in Martha’s Vineyard. Nice work ethic,” Trump tweeted in August of 2011.
In a December 2014 tweet, Trump wrote that “Obama has admitted that he spends his mornings watching @ESPN. Then he plays golf, fundraises & grants amnesty to illegals.”
So far on this trip to Bedminster, Trump has played golf with Sen. Lindsey Graham “where they discussed a number of issues including national security and trade,” according to Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
On Monday night the president had a National Republican Senatorial Committee-sponsored dinner – which raised funds for Republican Senate candidates – with supporters. Like all fundraisers the president has attended, it was closed to the press.
Earlier on Monday, Gidley said the president met with staff, and spoke with Vice President Pence, National Security Advisor John Bolton, his Chief of Staff John Kelly and the Director of Political Affairs Bill Stepien.
On Tuesday night, Trump was meeting business leaders, including FedEx CEO Fred Smith, Boston Beer’s Jim Koch and Pepsi’s Indra Nooyi, who announced Monday that she would be stepping down.
