The Latest: Trump defends his working vacation

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (AP) - The Latest on President Donald Trump taking a 17-day vacation at his golf club in New Jersey (all times local):

7:25 p.m.

President Donald Trump says he is hard at work while he takes a break from Washington.

On Twitter Saturday, Trump said: “Working in Bedminster, N.J., as long planned construction is being done at the White House. This is not a vacation - meetings and calls!”

Trump arrived at his private golf club in New Jersey on Friday for a 17-day stay. He held no public events Saturday and little information was available about how he spent the day. Aides did not answer questions about whether he played golf.

Presidents have a long tradition of leaving Washington during the summer. But there is also a practical explanation. Everyone working in the White House West Wing had to relocate so the government could replace a 27-year-old heating and cooling system.

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7:05 p.m.

Some guests at a New Jersey couple’s wedding got a surprise when President Donald Trump stopped to chat with them.

The brief conversation took place Saturday at Trump’s private golf club in Bedminster. In video posted on WPVI-TV in Philadelphia, (https://6abc.cm/2ucIKeE ) the Republican president got out of his golf cart and asked the group if they were having a good time, then paused to take a selfie with one of them before he went inside the club.

Trump departed Washington on Friday afternoon for a 17-day trip to the club in central Jersey for a working vacation.

Trump has been known to stop in on weddings held at the golf club in the past, including one staged there in June.

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3:18 p.m.

Taking a break from the capital and a rocky first six months in office, President Donald Trump is spending the first full day of his “working vacation” quietly.

Trump departed Washington Friday for a 17-day trip to his private golf club in central New Jersey. He was accompanied by the aide charged with resetting his chaotic administration- new chief of staff John Kelly.

A White House official said Trump’s plans for Bedminster included meetings with aides and lawmakers. He was briefed by Kelly about the three U.S. Marines who were missing after their Osprey aircraft crashed into the sea off the east coast of Australia on Saturday while trying to land.

The White House did not say whether Trump was golfing on Saturday, and he was relatively quiet on Twitter.