Speculation ran rampant when former President Donald Trump made an unannounced appearance in the Washington area on Sunday. He had visited D.C. just once since leaving office.
Now, thanks to a social media post from the former president, we know exactly why he arrived in the vicinity of the nation’s capital.
Freelance journalist and YouTuber Andrew Leyden, known as PenguinSix, broke the news Sunday evening before it was picked up by numerous additional reporters and outlets. Leyden even captured footage of Trump exiting his plane upon arrival at Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
Much of the speculation centered on the notion that Trump was visiting Washington for legal reasons in light of the long-running congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol incursion and the Aug. 8 FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago country club home in Palm Beach, Florida.
Despite all of this, as it turns out, Trump had simply visited the area to play some golf.
“Working today at @TrumpWashingtonDC on the Potomac River. What an incredible place!” he wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform Monday.
Indeed, the former president owns an award-winning golf course, the Trump National Golf Club Washington D.C., in Potomac Falls, Virginia.
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There was a tipoff in Leyden’s footage of Trump exiting his airplane: He could be seen wearing golf shoes.
“The man who first got the video of Trump’s plane landing says the last he saw of Trump’s motorcade, it was heading toward Trump’s golf course. And he did seem to be wearing golf shoes in the video (see three minutes in),” journalist Seth Abramson wrote on Twitter.
The man who first got the video of Trump’s plane landing says the last he saw of Trump’s motorcade, it was heading toward Trump’s golf course. And he did seem to be wearing golf shoes in the video (see three minutes in). So a fundraiser is a possibility. https://t.co/Wfz0Uinrz1
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) September 12, 2022
However, anti-Trump activist Dash Dobrofsky speculated that could be a sign that Trump was brought to D.C. hurriedly and reluctantly.
“Here is the video of Insurrectionist Trump wearing golf shoes on his secret trip to DC. There is no official way to determine why he is there. But the shoes tell a story that this was a rushed, unanticipated trip that he didn’t want to make,” Dobrofsky said on Twitter.
Here is the video of Insurrectionist Trump wearing golf shoes on his secret trip to DC. There is no official way to determine why he is there. But the shoes tell a story that this was a rushed, unanticipated trip that he didn’t want to make. pic.twitter.com/AlzdjqdbIf
— Dash Dobrofsky (@DashDobrofsky) September 12, 2022
Trump’s post certainly cut down quite a bit of mistaken speculation.
George Conway of The Washington Post had suggested the former president was being arraigned for some sort of criminal proceeding.
“It’s been arraigning — I mean, raining,” Conway wrote Sunday.
It’s been arraigning — I mean, raining https://t.co/9i5DWhMBd6
— George Conway? (@gtconway3d) September 12, 2022
Mike Sington, a former executive with NBC Universal, suggested a pair of possible reasons for Trump’s arrival: one, he was seeking medical treatment, or two, the former president had been indicted and was “turning himself in.”
Trump flew into DC last night from Bedminster unscheduled. He hasn’t posted about why he’s in Washington, and neither has his family. The speculation is:
1. He’s seeking treatment at Walter Reed for an unknown medical condition.
2. He’s been indicted, and is turning himself in.— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) September 12, 2022
As it turns out, Trump was simply looking to play some golf.
