President Donald Trump is scheduled to remain at the White House this Labor Day Weekend, like he has for the entire month of August in a break from presidential tradition of extended vacations while Congress is out for its August recess and the nation’s capital turns into a hot, muggy swamp.
Rancho del Cielo, Kennebunkport, Martha’s Vineyard, Crawford, Bedminster, Rehoboth Beach. Those are places that became familiar to Americans as annual summer vacation destinations for presidents in recent decades.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced earlier this month that Trump would be foregoing a planned summer vacation at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf property to stay at the White House to put in the hard work on a peace agreement in Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Excerpt from The Hill, published August 19:
President Trump canceled his August vacation to his Bedminster resort to work on talks to end the Ukraine-Russia war, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday.
Leavitt said Trump considered continuing peace talks while at his New Jersey golf resort but decided to stay at the White House instead.
“This is normally the time when the president goes on vacation, but not this president,” she said. “There [were] discussions about him working from Bedminster for a couple of weeks, but he decided against it.”
“He’s a man on a mission. He wants to move. Get things done quickly,” Leavitt added. “He wants to strike when the iron is hot.”
Trump has also focused on cleaning up the nation’s capital of crime and grime, ordering National Guard troops and federal agents to work with D.C. police and the U.S. Park Service to stop crime, remove homeless camps, scrub off graffiti and pick up trash to prepare the city for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence next year.
On Tuesday, Trump held a marathon three-hour-plus long cabinet meeting at the White House.
On Wednesday, Trump held a White House meeting on the Hamas-Israel war, (Axios excerpt):
The meeting President Trump convened on Wednesday to discuss a post-war plan for Gaza involved two high-profile invited guests, Jared Kushner and Tony Blair, and an unexpected third one: Israeli official Ron Dermer.
Why it matters: Dermer told the assembled senior officials that Israel doesn’t want to occupy Gaza long-term, but needs an acceptable alternative to Hamas to govern the enclave. Kushner and Blair got Trump’s blessing to keep developing such a plan, but right now they don’t have an answer as to who would take over.
Behind the scenes: Wednesday’s meeting lasted over an hour, with Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff and several other senior administration officials in the room.
Trump is also firing officials for cause this month, most notably Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook and CDC Director Susan Monarez.
The Washington Times reported Trump even cancelled a planned short Labor Day Weekend getaway to Bedminster to remain at the White House (excerpt):
This year he’s passing over the traditional presidential summer vacation to focus on securing peace between Ukraine and Russia.
Typically, presidents head out of Washington around Labor Day to grab rest and relaxation away from the stress and daily grind of the White House. However, Mr. Trump canceled his plans to spend the final two weeks in August at his Bedminster, New Jersey, resort.
Instead, Mr. Trump will stay at the White House this weekend, scrapping his earlier plans to leave for Bedminster on Saturday and come back on Monday.
The U.S. has massed naval forces off the coast of Venezuela in recent weeks after declaring the Maduro government a narco-terrorist regime (excerpt):
After initially offering a reward offer of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Maduro in 2020, the Department of State on January 10, 2025, increased the reward offer to up to $25 million. On August 7, 2025, the Department announced the further increase in the reward offer to up to $50 million after the Department of Treasury sanctioned Cartel of the Suns as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist on July 25, 2025. As leader of Cartel of the Suns, Maduro is the first target in the history of the Narcotics Rewards Program with a reward offer exceeding $25 million.
There is no indication of imminent military action to capture Maduro.
Trump is not a hermit at the White House on the weekends when he stays there, usually heading out on Saturday and Sunday mornings to his nearby golf club in Northern Virginia and returning in the afternoon after golf and relaxation.
Pool video from August 17:
Trump has worked harder in the first year of his second term than any president in recent memory. Whether it is world peace and diplomacy, jobs and the the economy, health, crime, transportation, space flight, the arts, reforming government, strengthening the military, cutting taxes, lowering egg prices, increasing energy supplies, returning manufacturing back home or making improvements to the White House, Trump does not not stop. Not even for an August vacation.
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