Trump scraps trip to New Jersey golf club as coronavirus cases surge

President Trump has canceled a planned trip to his golf club in New Jersey this weekend as coronavirus cases surge in several states.

Trump was scheduled to depart the White House for his Bedminster property later Friday and return to Washington, D.C., on Sunday. But the president abruptly scrapped the trip without public explanation.

The president’s activities while at Bedminster are often kept private by the White House, but he regularly plays golf while there.

The shift in plans comes as Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Texas and other states see sharp increases in coronavirus cases. Texas and Florida announced Friday morning that bars would be closed or no longer allowed to serve alcohol on site, the first time either state has taken a step back in their reopening processes.

Florida shattered its single-day record of new coronavirus cases reported on Friday, adding an additional 8,942 cases, according to the state’s Department of Health.

Texas has reported more than 5,400 new cases of the coronavirus on each of the last three days, setting successively higher one-day records.

There are more than 2.4 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S., and more than 124,000 have died from the virus.

The White House coronavirus task force is set to hold a briefing on Friday afternoon, its first in roughly two months. The briefing will be led by Vice President Pence at the Department of Health and Human Services, and Trump is not expected to attend.

New Jersey, New York and Connecticut announced earlier this week that visitors from states with large numbers of coronavirus cases, including Arizona, would be required to quarantine for two weeks.

Trump, who traveled to Arizona earlier this week to visit the border wall and speak to a full auditorium of supporters, would have fallen under the quarantine requirement under normal conditions. But the White House said Trump would not observe the quarantine because he “is not a civilian” and is tested regularly.

New Jersey, New York and Connecticut faced an early surge in cases and are beginning to recover.

“It has nothing to do with that,” White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere said when asked if the cancellation was related to the travel regulations.