Trump Heading to Mar-a-Lago for Fifth Visit Since Taking Office, but What About Camp David?

The president appears to prefer his Mar-a-Lago compound over the official presidential retreat located just 20 minutes from the White House.

Donald Trump is headed back to the so-called "Winter White House" this weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach but he is overlooking the official presidential retreat.

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It's his fifth visit to the Florida estate in the two months since becoming president. However, he has not once visited the official presidential retreat, Camp David in rural Maryland.

Trump seems to have zero interest in it whatsoever.

Camp David is a 20-minute helicopter ride from the White House and has been a favorite getaway for presidents for 80 years.

Caroline Kennedy learned to ride a pony there, and President Obama has enjoyed pool time with his daughters on the property.

The remote area also holds special historical significance. In 1978, Jimmy Carter hosted the Camp David Accords between Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin for 12 days of secret negotiations where they created agreements on a peace treaty between the two Middle Eastern nations.

In 2000, Bill Clinton did a similar task when he hosted Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat with an effort to end the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, however, the U.S. president at the time did not have the same luck as Carter and it ended without a treaty.

At this point in his first term, President Obama had already been to Camp David once and President Bush had been there three times at the same point of his presidency. Trump has not gone once.

Obama had been to Camp David 39 visits over 93 days and Bush had 149 visits in over 487 days.

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Some say Camp David may just be way too boring for Trump.

Trump told The Times of London: "Camp David is very rustic, it's nice, you'd like it. You know how long you'd like it? For about 30 minutes."

Camp David is remote and currently has a foot of snow on the ground. In Palm Beach, it's a balmy 80 degrees.

Mark Knoller is a veteran White House correspondent with CBS News and he's been to the cabins at Camp David.

"For a president with penthouse tastes, you go to Mar-a-Lago," he said. "They certainly are luxurious but is not a penthouse. So, if President Trump is looking for penthouse accomodations, then you don't go to Camp David." 

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