Trump hits golf course 3 days after visiting shooting victims

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Trump hit the golf course on Monday, three days after visiting people affected by the deadly school shooting in nearby Parkland, Fla.

The president arrived at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach shortly after 9 a.m.

Trump avoided golf over the weekend, a decision aides said was out of respect for the 17 people killed in a shooting last week at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

But the president returned to the course on Monday to cap off President’s Day weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort. Trump is scheduled to return to Washington in the afternoon. {mosads}

White House officials did not say whether Trump was playing golf. The president is an avid golfer who typically spends time at his courses on the weekend. 

Trump has not been seen publicly since Friday, when he met with injured victims and first responders from the school shooting.

The only other time the president ventured from Mar-a-Lago was Sunday night, when he dined with his family at his West Palm Beach golf club.

Aides said he met with Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and phoned local officials who represent the school, but both took place behind closed doors.

Trump spent some of his weekend reacting to television news programs.

The president lashed out in anger over the Russia investigation in an extraordinary burst of tweets late Saturday and early Sunday morning.

And he slammed Oprah Winfrey as “very insecure” after watching her appearance on CBS News’s “60 Minutes” on Sunday.

“Just watched a very insecure Oprah Winfrey, who at one point I knew very well, interview a panel of people on 60 Minutes,” Trump tweeted late Sunday. “The questions were biased and slanted, the facts incorrect.”

Referring to speculation Winfrey might run against him in 2020, Trump wrote, “hope Oprah runs so she can be exposed and defeated just like all of the others!”

Winfrey did not comment personally on Trump but asked a panel of voters whether he is fit for office and if they believe he made his “shithole countries” comment about Haiti, El Salvador and African nations.

The White House made some news Monday morning when a White House spokesperson said that Trump would back improving the federal background check system.

“The president spoke to Senator [John] Cornyn [R-Texas] on Friday about the bi-partisan bill he and Sen. [Chris] Murphy [D-Conn.] introduced to improve Federal Compliance with Criminal Background check Legislation,” the White House said in a statement.

“While discussions are ongoing and revisions are being considered, the President is supportive of efforts to improve the Federal background check system.”