The Washington Post is asking the public for help identifying Trump's golf partners
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The Washington Post issued a call Friday for the public to help it identify some of the people who have played golf with President Donald Trump since he took office.
Trump has spent 110 days of his presidency on a golf course, but just 22 people have been identified so far as having joined him.
Trump is known for frequenting the golf clubs he owns in Florida, Virginia, and New Jersey. While there, he often limits press access and plays away from the public eye. The Post cited that as a reason why it was difficult to identify his golf partners.
"In part this is because Trump chooses to play on courses where he can keep outside observers from seeing what's going on," the report said. "That also means that it's often hard to learn about his partners and, further, to confirm that he was joined on the course."
The White House provided a list of some of the people who joined Trump after the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a lawsuit last year. The list includes Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, GOP lawmakers, and Fox News personalities.
The Post pointed out that these outings were several-hour-long meetings that have no record as they would if they took place in the White House. The report also cites a November story by USA Today that identifies five administration officials as members of Trump Organization golf clubs.
"Trump might have spent last weekend playing a round of golf with the person who could soon end up as deputy attorney general," the report says. "He might have spent three hours on Saturday chatting with the head of a firm that will soon learn that it is exempt from certain tariffs. We simply don't know."
The Trump administration has drawn significant scrutiny for its lack of transparency surrounding White House visitor logs , financial disclosures , and information related to the special counsel's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
In addition to a lack of transparency, the president and his aides also often engage in open displays of hostility to the press . In one well-known instance, Trump called the media the "enemy of the American people." Trump often insults individual reporters and networks, calling coverage he dislikes "fake news." Meanwhile, the daily press briefings have also become shorter and less frequent.
Most recently, the White House ignited controversy when it banned CNN's Kaitlan Collins from a press event after she asked Trump tough questions during an earlier pool spray.
Tags
Who is online
106 visitors
Where are the cries for transparency?
Some in this administration believe that meetings and negotiations should be able to be held privately without public knowledge.