After uttering his “no collusion” mantra at least 231 times since Special Counsel Robert Mueller launched his probe into Russian election interference in 2017, President Trump did the unthinkable this weekend, after the investigation finally wrapped up: He shut up.
Instead, according to The New York Times, he played golf and had lunch with Kid Rock at Mar-a-Lago.
With much of Washington, D.C. in an 11th hour frenzy since Mueller delivered his long-awaited report to the Justice Department on Friday, Trump reportedly surrounded himself with family and allies to visit his Palm Beach home this weekend, with White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and Press Secretary Sarah Sanders also reportedly in tow as Mueller’s report landed.
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But he has not made a peep on Twitter or otherwise commented on the end of the Russia investigation. Sources cited by the Times say his lawyers and aides have urged him to keep quiet and count on Attorney General William Barr to handle the report.
While Barr spent nine hours at the Justice Department on Saturday poring over the report with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to determine which parts should be shared with lawmakers and the public, Trump is said to have been surrounded by allies as he spent the day golfing and hanging out with Kid Rock.
The musician proudly posted a photo of himself and Trump grinning together on the golf course. “What a great man, so down to earth and so fun to be with! KEEP AMERICA GREAT!” he wrote.
Despite appearing to be carefree on the outside, however, Trump reportedly told an unnamed friend that he was worried about the release of Mueller’s report taking longer than expected. He has also spent the past few weeks polling acquaintances about Barr, according to sources cited by the Times.
“Do you know Barr?” he was quoted as asking.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who reportedly lavished the president with praise at a Friday night fundraiser as Trump looked on, was quoted by The Wall Street Journal saying Trump was relieved Mueller had finally completed his investigation.
“He was in a good mood,” Graham, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said of Trump. “He just said, basically, ‘Thank God it’s over’—that part of it. I said, ‘There’s a process here, it’s worked. I’ve always believed Mueller was professional.”
On the Mueller report, Graham said: “It’s like waiting on a jury—you think you’re in good shape, you don’t know.”
Barr’s team is expected to deliver the investigation’s “principal conclusions” to lawmakers and the president as soon as Sunday, though Democrats have clamored to make sure Trump and his legal team don’t get a “sneak peek” of the report before anyone else does.
“The American people have a right to the truth. The watchword is transparency,” Pelosi tweeted, adding that the “White House must not be allowed to interfere in decisions about what parts of [Mueller’s] findings or evidence are made public.”
