White House Spox Refuses to Deny Trump Might Leave Country Before Biden Inauguration: ‘He Will Let You Know’

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The White House on Tuesday refused to deny a report that President Donald Trump plans to leave for Scotland before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
“Anonymous sources who claim to know what the president is or is not considering have no idea,” deputy press secretary Judd Deere said in a statement. “When President Trump has an announcement about his plans for Jan. 20, he will let you know.”
Deere made the statement to numerous media outlets after a weekend report by the Sunday Post, which said Glasgow’s Prestwick Airport had been told to expect a Boeing 757 aircraft from the United States military on Jan. 19. Trump owns the nearby Turnberry resort.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she didn’t view the alleged trip as essential and advised Trump against coming. “We’re not allowing people to come to Scotland without an essential purpose, and that would apply to him just as it would apply to anybody else,” Sturgeon said. “Coming to play golf isn’t what I would consider to be an essential purpose.”
Reports in early December suggested Trump also considered plans to hold a rally in Florida on the day of Biden’s inauguration, as well as potentially announcing that day he would run for president in 2024. Deere issued the same, word-for-word statement in response to those reports.