Trump leaves second day of virtual G20 early to head to golf course - after slamming 'Fake News Media' for saying he blew off Saturday's online summit to hit the links
For a second day in a row, President Donald Trump left the virtual G20 early to go golfing at his 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: Donald Trump, right, golfs at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. hE left a G20 summit virtual event called 'Pandemic Preparedness' Saturday to visit one of his golf clubs as virus has now killed more than 250,000 Americans
SUNDAY: Trump is photographed leaving the White House Sunday. Trump left the G20 early and headed to his golf resort
SUNDAY: Trump had already bristled at news reports that said he blew off a part of the G20 on Saturday to go golfing
SUNDAY: White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow (left middle) can be seen in the U.S. seat at the G20 as Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (center) gave a speech closing out the conference
On Saturday, 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.
The election was called in Biden's favor by the major networks on Saturday, November 7.
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
SATURDAY: 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
SATURDAY: 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
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
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a prominent ally of President Donald Trump, said Sunday it was time for him to concede the race to President-elect Joe Biden.
'Yes,' he told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's 'This Week' when asked if Trump should concede to Biden to enable the transition process to begin.
'And what's happened here is quite frankly, the conduct of the president's legal team has been a national embarrassment,' Christie said.
Trump on Saturday 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.
SUNDAY: Trump gives a thumbs up as his motorcade leaves the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia
SUNDAY: Trump gives thumbs up to supporters from this motorcade after he golfed at Trump National Golf Club on Sunday
SUNDAY: On Saturday, Turmp skipped a sideline event entitled 'Pandemic Preparedness and Response,' where speakers included German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron
SUNDAY: Trump has spent the two weeks since the election was called for President-elect Joe Biden mainly out of sight
Coronavirus cases have spiked around the nation - with the U.S. now having 12.2 million cases with more than 256,000 dead.
More than 1 million people traveled by plane in the United States on Friday despite the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) issuing new guidelines last week as Dr Anthony Fauci urged Americans to do a 'risk-benefit assessment' before Thanksgiving travel.
With the coronavirus surging out of control, the nation's top public health agency pleaded with Americans on Thursday not to travel for Thanksgiving and not to spend the holiday with people from outside their household.
Despite those warnings, 1,019,836 passengers flew in the US on Friday, according to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
That number is 1.5 million less than on the same day in 2019 and it's the second-highest number of people to travel by air since the pandemic hit the US in March. On October 18, the TSA reported that 1,031,505 people boarded flights.
Meanwhile, Dr Fauci has urged Americans to really look at the bigger picture before they travel or make plans for the holidays.
SUNDAY: The Guardian, which was able to obtain audio of Trump's remarks from Saturday, 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
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.
Chris Christie on Sunday assured that he remained a Republican. But he added: 'Listen, I've been a supporter of the president, I voted for him twice, but elections have consequences. And we cannot continue to act as if something happened here that didn't happen.'
He said he came to the same conclusion as Fox News Channel's Tucker Carlson - that the 'evidence doesn't exist.
On his Thursday night show, Carlson blasted Powell for never providing his show with any evidence of the widespread voter fraud that Trump has alleged for weeks following the election.
On Sunday the Trump administration sought to distance itself from attorney Sidney Powell on Thursday, insisting she is ‘not a member’ of their legal team – despite Trump tweeting only last week that she was.
In a written statement issued by Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, and his senior campaign adviser, Jenna Ellis, they said: ‘Sidney Powell is practicing law on her own.
‘She is not a member of the Trump Legal Team,’ the message continued. ‘She is also not a lawyer for the President in his personal capacity.’
The statement was issued just days after Powell appeared on-stage alongside Giuliani for a bizarre press conference at the Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, in which she stunningly claimed that Democrats had ‘paid’ to rig the election.
Sidney Powell, right, speaks next to former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani, as members of President Donald Trump's legal team, during a news conference at the Republican National Committee headquarters, Thursday November 19, 2020
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