For a second day in a row, President Donald Trump left the virtual G20 early to go golfing at this Virginia resort.
Earlier, Trump had bristled at news reports that said he blew off a part of the G20 on Saturday to go golfing.
‘Just arrived at Virtual G20,’ Trump tweeted Sunday morning. ‘Was here yesterday also (early), but some of the Fake News Media failed to report it accurately – as usual. My speech is available (they said I didn’t make a speech).’
Several outlets, including The New York Times and The Guardian, reported that Trump briefly participated Saturday before taking the motorcade out to his Sterling, Virginia property.
On Sunday, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow could be seen in Trump’s seat as the conference drew to a close.
SUNDAY: President Donald Trump is photographed leaving the White House Sunday. Trump left the G20 early and headed to his Virginia golf resort
SATURDAY: President Donald Trump is photographed at his Sterling, Virginia golf club Saturday. He bristled at reports that said he blew off part of the G20 meeting to play golf
Trump tweeted Sunday morning that he’d arrived for day No. 2 of the virtual G20 – and said he was there yesterday too, claiming his speech was ‘available,’ despite the White House not releasing it
Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (top) speaks at the virtual G20 conference Saturday, with President Donald Trump (bottom left) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) listening in
World leaders participated in a virtual G20 summit this weekend. Trump pushed back on reports that pointed out that he skipped a sideline event entitled ‘Pandemic Preparedness and Response’ and instead went golfing
He skipped a sideline event entitled ‘Pandemic Preparedness and Response,’ where speakers included German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron.
And his speech wasn’t released by the White House, despite CNN and other outlets saying they asked.
The Guardian, which was able to obtain audio of Trump’s remarks, reported that the president took his denial of the presidential election results to the global stage when he addressed world leaders.
‘It’s been a great honor to work with you, and I look forward to working with you again for a long time,’ Trump reportedly said.
He also boasted about Operation Warp Speed, the U.S. government’s push for a coronavirus vaccine, that only funded one of two potentially successful candidates.
Still, Trump has been taking credit for Pfizer’s vaccine despite the company not taking government money.
‘His was the anomalous speech,’ one source told The Guardian. ‘Everyone else talked about global matters of life and death.’
Politico reported Trump’s main message was: Vaccinate America first.
A White House readout of his remarks said that Trump ‘highlighted how the United States marshaled every resource at its disposal to respond to the crisis, as well as the unprecedented economic recovery of the United States on a foundation of tax and regulatory cuts, energy independence, and fair trade deals.’
‘He spoke about the aggressive actions and safety measures the United States took to protect the vulnerable, pioneer groundbreaking treatments, and develop vaccines and therapies at record-setting speed, which will save millions of lives,’ the readout also said.
Coronavirus cases have spiked around the nation – with the U.S. now having 12.2 million cases with more than 256,000 dead.
Trump has spent the two weeks since the election was called for President-elect Joe Biden mainly out of sight.
He’s appeared three times at official events, but otherwise has spent a portion of every weekend day at his Virginia golf course.
And he’s spent a lot of time on Twitter, continuing to spread conspiracy theories about how he ‘won’ the race.