Trump Escalates Military Action Then Heads to the Golf Course – Taking No Senior Staff With Him
Exactly seven days ago President Donald Trump launched 59 Tomahawk missiles into Syria. Just hours ago U.S. Military forces dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb ever used onto an ISIS stronghold in Afghanistan. Over the past week North Korea, Secretary of State Tillerson, and President Trump have been playing an increasingly dangerous game of nuclear chicken.
Right now, the U.S. Military is reportedly prepared to launch a preemptive military strike of Tomahawk missiles into North Korea if Pyongyang continues with its planned nuclear weapons test, slated for some time between now and the end of this weekend.
In response to what it sees as a military threat of U.S. destroyers sent near North Korea, Pyongyang has threatened to launch a nuclear attack on the U.S.
All of this may easily be rhetoric and likely none of it will come to pass, but if you are the President of the United States, the Commander in Chief, wouldn’t you want to be at the White House, as close to the situation room as possible?
At 6:34 PM EDT President Trump landed in West Palm Beach, where he will spend the weekend. (It happens to be his 22nd day at Mar-a-Lago since being sworn in.)
There is no actual situation room at Mar-a-Lago, none that has the security and resources of the one in the White House.
Compounding this, frankly insane decision, is that President Trump this Easter weekend will have no senior staff with him. Bloomberg News White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs confirms:
When that 3 AM phone call comes, he will be alone.
Jacob Stokes, the former White House national security staffer for Vice President Joe Biden, took to twitter a few hours ago, and called the decision, “staggering.”
Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC licenseÂ