Trump in the White House. (Photo by Chris Kleponis – Pool/Getty Images)

Trump in the White House. (Photo by Chris Kleponis – Pool/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump spends at least part of nearly every weekend he’s been in office at one of the properties he owns, but he has his reasons.

It isn’t to further enrich himself, as multiple lawsuits allege, or drain Secret Service coffers.

No, no, the reason is much simpler: “That White House is a real dump.”

That’s how Trump reportedly explained his constant presence at Trump Bedminster, his golf club in New Jersey, to members, according to a story in Golf Magazine.

This seems like a shift from Trump’s initial opinion about the residence.

“These are the most beautiful phones I’ve ever used in my life,” Trump told The New York Times when he first moved in. “It’s a beautiful residence, it’s very elegant … There’s something very special when you know that Abraham Lincoln slept there.”

The novelty must have worn off. (Though to be fair, the same week he praised the White House he jetted down to Mar-a-Lago, the Floridian golf club he owns.)

Presidents have lived and worked in the historical building since John Adams, and it is not without its problems. When he still lived there, President Barack Obama said that the internet connection could be “sketchy … We’ve been trying to get that straight for the next group of folks because it’s an old building so there are a lot of dead spots where the wi-fi does’t work.”

But if Trump continues to travel at his current pace, it will take one year in office for him to surpass Obama’s travel spending during the course of his two terms.

Trump is headed this week to Bedminister for two weeks.

We’ve reached out to the White House Historical Association for their thoughts on the comments, and will update if we hear back.

There’s no shortage of others weighing in, though, including former White House residents.

Filed Under: donald trump, dump, white house,