Trump spotted golfing after White House claims he’s ‘tirelessly working’

The White House has been caught using some poetic licence with a description of Donald Trump's schedule today when it was discovered the president was out playing golf.

Reporters were provided with a copy of Mr Trump's schedule during his first full day operating from his personal golf resort, Mar-a-Lago, in Florida. The schedule included an out of place note assuring readers that the president's time at the resort would not be a vacation, but a working trip to the "White House South."

“As the Holiday season approaches, President Trump will continue to work tirelessly for the American People. His schedule includes many meetings and calls,” the schedule said.

"Working tirelessly" apparently also includes carting around the green at the Palm Beach golf course.

CNN's White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins tweeted a photo of the president playing golf on Thursday.

Mr Trump has been largely absent from his public duties as president outside of his very vocal challenges to the 2020 election and his victory laps concerning the coronavirus vaccine.

Since the election, more than half of Mr Trump's days have been bereft of public or press appearances. This absence comes as the US grapples with continually increasing coronavirus cases, a looming government shut down, and growing financial and food insecurity caused by the pandemic.

Mr Trump issued a video earlier in the week threatening to veto the massive $900bn coronavirus relief bill — which was packaged with the nation's defense spending budget — because its $600 direct payments to Americans was too low. He wanted the direct payments increased to $2,000 for eligible adults.

On Wednesday, Mr Trump vetoed the bill. House Democrats leapt at the chance to pass a bill raising the direct payments to $2,000, but House Republicans blocked its passage.

Without a bill in place, not only is the question of direct payments of any kind up in the air, but the government risks shutting down, which would halt unemployment payments that are keeping 14 million Americans from financial ruin.

Unless some form of funding is passed by Saturday, the government will shut down.

Mr Trump has also garnered criticism for his lack of response to a massive hacking campaign that national intelligence officials claim was carried out by Russia.

The hack targeted numerous US government agencies and may have compromised hundreds of private corporations.

The president downplayed Russia's potential involvement, tweeting that it "may be China," despite his own Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, claiming otherwise.

Both China and Russia have denied their involvement in the attack.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Mr Trump's recent actions "an act of staggering recklessness."

"In a time when our country was just targeted with a massive cyberattack, it is particularly hard to understand the reasoning behind the President's irresponsibility," she said in a statement.