--- title: Steve Bannon, Charlottesville and Trump Vacation Highlights description: Here's a look at everything that happened during President Donald Trump's eventful working vacation away from Washington. canonical: https://time.com/4905965/donald-trump-steve-bannon-charlottesville-north-korea/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-18T18:58:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:58:34.203Z article:section: Politics og:title: Everything That Happened on Trump's 'Working Vacation' og:description: From Charlottesville to North Korea to Steve Bannon og:url: https://time.com/4905965/donald-trump-steve-bannon-charlottesville-north-korea/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9738323ec1954f90/6988da3bcf40a826f1c49073/aug-4-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3824 og:image:height: 2151 og:image:alt: Donald Trump, Joseph Kushner, Arabella Kushner og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Everything That Happened on Trump's 'Working Vacation' twitter:description: From Charlottesville to North Korea to Steve Bannon twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9738323ec1954f90/6988da3bcf40a826f1c49073/aug-4-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # From Charlottesville to North Korea to Steve Bannon, Everything That Happened on Trump's 'Working Vacation' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Aug 18, 2017 6:58 PM UTC  President Donald Trump waves as he walks down the steps of Air Force One with his grandchildren, Arabella Kushner, center, and Joseph Kushner, right, after arriving at Morristown Municipal Airport to begin his summer vacation at his Bedminster golf club in Morristown, N.J. on Aug. 4, 2017. President Donald Trump waves as he walks down the steps of Air Force One with his grandchildren, Arabella Kushner, center, and Joseph Kushner, right, after arriving at Morristown Municipal Airport to begin his summer vacation at his Bedminster golf club in Morristown, N.J. on Aug. 4, 2017. Evan Vucci—AP by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Aug 18, 2017 6:58 PM UTC President Donald Trump took what the White House billed as a “working vacation” at his New Jersey golf club and his New York City Trump Tower penthouse for two weeks this month. But it could hardly have been a relaxing trip for the President of the United States. “This is not a vacation,” Trump wrote on Twitter at the outset. “Meetings and calls!” And he certainly kept busy. During Trump’s time away from the White House — he returns Sunday — he [sparred with a U.S. Senator](http://time.com/4889602/donald-trump-richard-blumenthal-vietnam/), escalated [tensions with North Korea](http://time.com/4897850/donald-trump-kim-jonh-un-guam-threats-regret/), incited controversy with [his response to violent clashes in Charlottesville, Va](http://time.com/4904270/will-nation-succeed-after-charlottesville/)., and saw [a parade of CEOs abandon him](http://time.com/4904438/how-president-trump-lost-the-ceos/). And he topped it all off by cutting loose his controversial chief strategist [Steve Bannon](http://time.com/4906897/steve-bannon-leaving-white-house-donald-trump/) on Friday. Here’s a look at everything that happened during the President’s eventful days away from the nation’s capital.  President Donald Trump waves as he walks down the steps of Air Force One with his grandchildren after arriving at Morristown Municipal Airport to begin his summer vacation at his Bedminster golf club in Morristown, N.J. on Aug. 4, 2017. Evan Vucci—AP **Aug. 4:** Trump leaves Washington, D.C., for a 17-day “working vacation” at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club. **Aug. 5-6:** Trump tweets that his 17-day vacation is, in fact, no vacation at all — although photos emerge of him on the golf course. > [](https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/893964041630212098) **Aug. 7:** Trump spends the first Monday morning of his vacation catching up on cable news, or so it seems. After Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal appears on CNN and makes critical comments about Trump, the President unleashes a flurry of tweets attacking Blumenthal. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/894525428236464128) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/894526670836781056) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/894528885701971970) The President also claims his political base is “bigger and stronger than ever” in a series of tweets, despite poll numbers showing that support among his base is actually down slightly.  Trump speaks during a briefing on the opioid crisis on Aug. 8, 2017, at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. From left are, White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and National Drug Control Policy acting Director Richard Baum. Evan Vucci—AP **Aug. 8:** Trump hosts a meeting at his Bedminster Golf Club on the opioid crisis, which he calls an “emergency,” though he doesn’t declare an official state of emergency to address it. In response to questions about North Korea’s growing nuclear capabilities, the President threatens the North Korean regime with “fire and fury like the world has never seen.”  Trump speaks during a security briefing on Aug. 10, 2017, at his Bedminster National Golf Club in New Jersey. Nicholas Kamm—AFP/Getty Images **Aug. 10:** Trump meets with his national security team at his Bedminster club and makes additional remarks. In response to threats North Korea made against the U.S. territory Guam, the President says: “Let’s see what he does with Guam. He does something in Guam, it will be an event the likes of which nobody’s seen before, what will happen in North Korea.” Trump also says he wants to “de-nuke” the world.  P Trump alongside U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and national security adviser H.R. McMaster at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., on Aug. 11, 2017. Pablo Martinez Monsivai—AP **Aug. 11:** After meeting with United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at Bedminster, the President holds another news conference. In those remarks, which aides later say were unplanned, the Trump says he would not rule out a military option in Venezuela amid chaos in the South American country. **Aug. 12:** As violence builds around a march of white nationalists in Charlottesville, Va., Trump is largely quiet. First Lady Melania Trump is the first to issue a statement on the events, tweeting that “our country encourages freedom of speech, but let’s communicate w/o hate in our hearts. No good comes from violence.” Trump later tweets about condemning hate, coming together, and says, “Charlottesville-sad!” But in his first public remarks on the events, Trump does not specifically call out white supremacists and neo-Nazis by name, leading to intense backlash. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/896420822780444672) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/896431205549318144) **Aug. 13:** The White House releases a statement, attributed only to an unnamed spokesperson, saying that Trump was referring to neo-Nazis in his remarks the day before, as more and more lawmakers come out against his equivocal response.  Trump pauses while speaking in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington on Aug. 14, 2017. Evan Vucci—AP **Aug 14:** Backlash over the President’s Saturday comments continue. Early Monday morning, Ken Frazier, the CEO of pharmaceutical company Merck, announces he’s stepping down from Trump’s Manufacturing Council. Trump tweets that the CEO will “have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!” > [](https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/897079051277537280) During a brief trip back to Washington, Trump delivers a statement in which he explicitly denounces white supremacy, to the relief of aides. Later, after he refuses to answer a reporter’s follow up question about his initial remarks, he tweets that the “fake news media” will never be satisfied. > [](https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/897223558073602049)  Director of the National Economic Council Gary Cohn and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin look on as Trump delivers remarks following a meeting on infrastructure at Trump Tower, on Aug. 15, 2017 in New York. Drew Angerer—Getty Images Left to right, **Aug. 15:** Back in New York, the President gathers reporters in the lobby of Trump Tower for what was supposed to be a statement on infrastructure. But when Trump opens the floor for questions the focus shifts to Charlottesville, he doubles down on the comments he made Saturday, placing blame on the so-called “alt-left” for the weekend violence. He adds that efforts to remove Confederate monuments are aimed at changing history and the collective “culture” of the U.S. **Aug. 16:** More CEOs announce they’re stepping down from the Manufacturing Council, a black Trump surrogate weeps and says he can no longer support the President in a Fox News segment, and Trump announces he’s shutting a pair of business advisory panels down before the executives on them have a chance to release their own statement. > [](https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/897869174323728385) **Aug. 17:** As Republicans continue to speak out against Trump, the President blasts them on Twitter in a series of morning tweets. Later, in response to an apparent terrorist attack in Barcelona, the President posts a tweet about a General Pershing, a man he [falsely claimed](http://time.com/4905420/donald-trump-pershing-pigs-blood-muslim-tweet/) during his campaign executed Muslims with bullets dipped in pig’s blood. > [](https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/898254409511129088) **Aug. 18**: Trump boasts that “our borders are far tougher than ever before” following the attack in Barcelona, and blames Democrats and the courts for making it harder to protect the homeland. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/898522732672933890) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/898528795308642304) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/898531481185689600) He caps a news-filled week when it emerges that [Bannon is out of a job](http://time.com/4906897/steve-bannon-leaving-white-house-donald-trump/?xid=homepage) at the White House. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4905965/donald-trump-steve-bannon-charlottesville-north-korea/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4905965/donald-trump-steve-bannon-charlottesville-north-korea/"},"headline":"From Charlottesville to North Korea to Steve Bannon, Everything That Happened on Trump's 'Working Vacation'","datePublished":"2017-08-18T18:58:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:58:34.203Z","description":"If you looked away for a second you probably missed something","url":"https://time.com/4905965/donald-trump-steve-bannon-charlottesville-north-korea/","keywords":["Donald Trump","White House","onetime","president trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9738323ec1954f90/6988da3bcf40a826f1c49073/aug-4-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9738323ec1954f90/6988da3bcf40a826f1c49073/aug-4-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump, Joseph Kushner, Arabella Kushner","caption":"Donald Trump, Joseph Kushner, Arabella Kushner","creditText":"Evan Vucci—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4905965/donald-trump-steve-bannon-charlottesville-north-korea/","name":"From Charlottesville to North Korea to Steve Bannon, Everything That Happened on Trump's 'Working Vacation'"}}]}] ```