Former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush spent part of every Christmas day since 2003 visiting troops. Guess who didn’t keep up that recent tradition in 2018.
That’s right, Donald Trump spent Christmas sulking in the White House and relied on video conferencing to talk to members of the military:
“I’m thrilled to speak to you on behalf of our country ... in representing this beautiful Christmas Day in the United States,” he told them. “I know it’s a great sacrifice for you to be away from your families, but I want you to know that every American family is eternally grateful to you, and we’re holding you close in our hearts. Thoughts and prayers. We’re all praying for you.”
Holding you close in our hearts … but Donald Trump can’t hop in a motorcade or helicopter and head to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, less than 10 miles from the White House. Trump did visit Walter Reed on December 21, before his planned Mar-a-Lago Christmas had to be canceled because the optics of the president partying it up with rich people at a private resort while the government was partially shut down would have been too bad even for Trump.
Then again, Trump probably privately feels that that not going to Mar-a-Lago means he’s sacrificed as much as anyone, ever.