Political panel weighs the week a day early, as Easter long weekend begins for P.E.I. MLAs
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Winnipeg Free Press
27-07-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Trump once decried the idea of presidential vacations. His Scotland trip is built around golf
EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — During sweaty summer months, Abraham Lincoln often decamped about 3 miles (5 kilometers) north of the White House to the Soldiers' Home, a presidential retreat of cottages and parkland in what today is the Petworth section of northwest Washington. Ulysses S. Grant sometimes summered at his family's cottage in Long Branch, New Jersey, even occasionally driving teams of horses on the beach. Ronald Reagan once said he did 'some of my best thinking' at his Rancho Del Cielo retreat outside Santa Barbara, California. Donald Trump's getaway is taking him considerably farther from the nation's capital, to the coast of Scotland. The White House isn't calling Trump's five-day, midsummer jaunt a vacation, but rather a working trip where the Republican president might hold a news conference and sit for interviews with U.S. and British media outlets. Trump was also talking trade in separate meetings with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Trump is staying at his properties near Turnberry and Aberdeen, where his family owns two golf courses and is opening a third on Aug. 13. Trump played golf over the weekend at Turnberry and is helping cut the ribbon on the new course on Tuesday. He's not the first president to play in Scotland: Dwight D. Eisenhower played at Turnberry in 1959, more than a half century before Trump bought it, after meeting with French President Charles de Gaulle in Paris. But none of Trump's predecessors has constructed a foreign itinerary around promoting vacation sites his family owns and is actively expanding. It lays bare how Trump has leveraged his second term to pad his family's profits in a variety of ways, including overseas development deals and promoting cryptocurrencies, despite growing questions about ethics concerns. 'You have to look at this as yet another attempt by Donald Trump to monetize his presidency,' said Leonard Steinhorn, who teaches political communication and courses on American culture and the modern presidency at American University. 'In this case, using the trip as a PR opportunity to promote his golf courses.' Presidents typically vacation in the US Franklin D. Roosevelt went to the Bahamas, often for the excellent fishing, five times between 1933 and 1940. He visited Canada's Campobello Island in New Brunswick, where he had vacationed as a child, in 1933, 1936 and 1939. Reagan spent Easter 1982 on vacation in Barbados after meeting with Caribbean leaders and warning of a Marxist threat that could spread throughout the region from nearby Grenada. Presidents also never fully go on vacation. They travel with a large entourage of aides, receive intelligence briefings, take calls and otherwise work away from Washington. Kicking back in the United States, though, has long been the norm. Harry S. Truman helped make Key West, Florida, a tourist hot spot with his 'Little White House' cottage there. Several presidents, including James Buchanan and Benjamin Harrison, visited the Victorian architecture in Cape May, New Jersey. More recently, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama boosted tourism on Massachusetts' Martha's Vineyard, while Trump has buoyed Palm Beach, Florida, with frequent trips to his Mar-a-Lago estate. But any tourist lift Trump gets from his Scottish visit is likely to most benefit his family. 'Every president is forced to weigh politics versus fun on vacation,' said Jeffrey Engel, David Gergen Director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, who added that Trump is 'demonstrating his priorities.' 'When he thinks about how he wants to spend his free time, A., playing golf, B., visiting places where he has investments and C., enhancing those investments, that was not the priority for previous presidents, but it is his vacation time,' Engel said. It's even a departure from Trump's first term, when he found ways to squeeze in visits to his properties while on trips more focused on work. Trump stopped at his resort in Hawaii to thank staff members after visiting the memorial site at Pearl Harbor and before embarking on an Asia trip in November 2017. He played golf at Turnberry in 2018 before meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Finland. Trump once decried the idea of taking vacations as president. 'Don't take vacations. What's the point? If you're not enjoying your work, you're in the wrong job,' Trump wrote in his 2004 book, 'Think Like a Billionaire.' During his presidential campaign in 2015, he pledged to 'rarely leave the White House.' Even as recently as a speech at a summit on artificial intelligence in Washington on Wednesday, Trump derided his predecessor for flying long distances for golf — something he's now doing. 'They talked about the carbon footprint and then Obama hops onto a 747, Air Force One, and flies to Hawaii to play a round of golf and comes back,' he said. Presidential vacations and any overseas trips were once taboo Trump isn't the first president not wanting to publicize taking time off. George Washington was criticized for embarking on a New England tour to promote the presidency. Some took issue with his successor, John Adams, for leaving the then-capital of Philadelphia in 1797 for a long visit to his family's farm in Quincy, Massachusetts. James Madison left Washington for months after the War of 1812. Teddy Roosevelt helped pioneer the modern presidential vacation in 1902 by chartering a special train and directing key staffers to rent houses near Sagamore Hill, his home in Oyster Bay, New York, according to the White House Historical Association. Four years later, Roosevelt upended tradition again, this time by becoming the first president to leave the country while in office. The New York Times noted that Roosevelt's 30-day trip by yacht and battleship to tour construction of the Panama Canal 'will violate the traditions of the United States for 117 years by taking its President outside the jurisdiction of the Government at Washington.' In the decades since, where presidents opted to vacation, even outside the U.S., has become part of their political personas. In addition to New Jersey, Grant relaxed on Martha's Vineyard. Calvin Coolidge spent the 1928 Christmas holidays at Sapelo Island, Georgia. Lyndon B. Johnson had his 'Texas White House,' a Hill Country ranch. Eisenhower vacationed in Newport, Rhode Island. John F. Kennedy went to Palm Springs, California, and his family's compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, among other places. Richard Nixon had the 'Southern White House' on Key Biscayne, Florida, while Joe Biden traveled frequently to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, while also visiting Nantucket, Massachusetts, and St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. George H.W. Bush was a frequent visitor to his family's property in Kennebunkport, Maine, and didn't let the start of the Gulf War in 1991 detour him from a monthlong vacation there. His son, George W. Bush, opted for his ranch in Crawford, Texas, rather than a more posh destination. Presidential visits help tourism in some places more than others, but Engel said that for some Americans, 'if the president of the Untied States goes some place, you want to go to the same place.' He noted that visitors emulating presidential vacations are out 'to show that you're either as cool as he or she, that you understand the same values as he or she or, heck, maybe you'll bump into he or she.'
Vancouver Sun
18-06-2025
- Vancouver Sun
Kristi Noem is 'alert and recovering' after trip to hospital over allergic reaction
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was taken to the hospital on Tuesday after experiencing an allergic reaction, her spokeswoman said. 'She is alert and recovering,' said the statement from department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, who said the hospital treatment was out of an 'abundance of caution.' Noem, 53, heads a sprawling department with roughly 260,000 employees handling immigration enforcement, airport security, disaster response and other matters. She has been among the more high-profile members of President Donald Trump's cabinet, traveling extensively and maintaining a robust social media presence. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. She is often the public face of his mass deportation effort, frequently goes out on immigration enforcement operations and has appeared in commercials encouraging immigrants in the country illegally to voluntarily leave the U.S. She held a press conference last week in California where U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat, was forcibly removed as he tried to speak to Noem about immigration raids. Padilla recalled the incident during an emotional speech from the Senate floor Tuesday. Homeland Security said the Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting the secretary, 'thought he was an attacker.' They also accused Padilla of 'disrespectful political theater.' Video of the incident shows a Secret Service agent on Noem's security detail grabbing Padilla by his jacket and shoving him from the room. In the hallway outside he was forced to the ground and handcuffed. Noem told Fox LA afterward that she had a 'great' conversation with Padilla after the scuffle, but called his approach 'something that I don't think was appropriate at all.' Before being tapped to head Homeland Security, Noem was a two-term governor of South Dakota, a former member of Congress and a staunch Trump supporter. She has said she specifically asked Trump for the Homeland Security portfolio because she knew it dealt with Trump's top priorities. Earlier this year Noem's purse was stolen on Easter Sunday while she was out to dinner with her family. The purse reportedly contained about $3,000 in cash, her keys, driver's license, passport and Homeland Security badge. The Homeland Security Department said Noem had cash in her purse to pay for gifts, dinner and other activities for her family on Easter. A suspect was later arrested in connection with the theft and has been charged in federal court with aggravated identity theft, robbery and fraud. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
Winnipeg Free Press
15-06-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
As Bolivia celebrates its main Andean festival, it feels the pain of mounting crises
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Bolivia's largest Andean religious festival has long inspired joyous revelry and offered a chance for the nation to forget about its perpetual political turmoil and escape into the world of its rich folklore. But this year on Saturday, Bolivians say the day of the Great Power, the beloved carnival dedicated to a 17th-century painting of Jesus Christ, reflects more than distracts from the country's spiraling economic and political crises. The typically exuberant crowd fell silent for a few moments on Saturday before the folk dance performance kicked off in the major city of La Paz, paying their respects to the victims of fierce clashes between protesters and police last Thursday that left six people dead, among them four police officers and two civilians. The second civilian, identified by protesters as a young student beaten by police, had been hospitalized and succumbed to his wounds on Saturday, just before the festival. After Bolivia's electoral tribunal disqualified former President Evo Morales, a leftist political titan who still wields influence in the country's tropical heartland, from running in Bolivia's August presidential election, his loyalists took to the streets to vent their outrage earlier this month. Many of them, both peaceful and violent, have reported being bruised and beaten by officers in recent days. The government sent military tanks to the streets of Llallagua, in central Bolivia. La Paz municipal authorities proposed postponing the festival, citing the 'pain of the Bolivian people.' But organizers refused, pointing to the $68 million that was expected to be generated Saturday – a shot of stimulus into a sputtering economy now witnessing its worst crisis in 40 years. The annual festival, which takes place some eight weeks after Easter, was recognized by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee for displaying the nation's unique mix of Roman Catholic belief and Indigenous heritage. The ceremony pays tribute to what is believed to be a miraculous rendering of Jesus Christ — El Señor del Gran Poder, or The Lord of the Great Power — that shows the Christian savior with Indigenous Andean features and outstretched arms. Dancing in the festival is a holy act of spiritual devotion as dancers pray for personal forgiveness and salvation. This year, however, many turned their prayers on a more immediate target. 'Devotees are asking for economic recovery, as well as for peace and unity among Bolivians in this time,' said a priest leading the ceremony, Father Saul Mamani. Economic strain was visible at Saturday's giant party as participants pared down their usually elaborate costumes and masks and dancers traded their traditional gold jewelry for Chinese-made knock-offs. 'The price of my costume went up by 60%,' said dancer Jorge Rodríguez, 37. 'Many haven't been able to dance, almost half of my group didn't come.' Organizers could only afford to hire some 70,000 dancers — some 20,000 fewer than last year — and scrapped their usual plans to invite regionally renowned musicians. Every year, one of La Paz's wealthy merchants, or 'qamiris,' gets the expensive honor of paying more than anyone else for Gran Poder. This year, the unlucky merchant, Edgar Apaza, said he had been saving all year and his budget was still tighter than ever before. 'The crisis is affecting everyone,' Apaza said. Inflation in Bolivia over the first five months of 2025 hit 9.81%, the highest rate in more than a decade, according to official figures, fueling public protests over President Luis Arce's handling of the economy and leaving many Bolivians struggling to buy even the basics. Plácida Quispe, 73, an embroiderer at the festival Saturday, said there wasn't enough demand to sell her colorful costumes this year. She said she would rent her handiwork to participants instead. 'There is no business,' she said. 'People want to celebrate, but they cannot afford to pay the price.'
