Donald Trump is on his way back to Washington and the White House, having visited his golf course in Sterling, Virginia. Our DC bureau chief, David Smith, is with him as pool reporter and sends this brief dispatch:
Motorcade departed the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling at 2.26pm. Each vehicle was greeted by fervent cheers from supporters standing outside, but the press vans received some boos. Motorcade is now rolling towards the White House.
When Trump left the White House earlier, he took a brief spin past the crowds of his supporters then assembling for their events in Washington today. Here’s David’s account of that:
[Trump] emerged from the south portico at 10am wearing a red hat, blue jacket and blue trousers. He appeared to be holding a newspaper. He got inside the presidential limousine and the motorcade headed out to Pennsylvania Avenue.
It was greeted by applause, cheers, waving and whistles from hundreds of Trump supporters lining both sides of the street. They punched the air, took pictures with phones and held signs that included “Best prez ever” and “Stop the steal”.
The crowd also waved flags including “Trump 2020: Keep America great”, “Trump 2020: No more bullshit”, “All aboard the Trump train!” and “Trump 2020: Pro life, pro God, pro gun”.
The motorcade passed the Willard Hotel and did a circuit of Freedom Plaza, where people climbed on walls and other structures for a better view. Some ran excitedly after the motorcade. There were chants of “USA! USA!”, “We want Trump! We want Trump!” and “Four more years! Four more years!”
Many people wore red, white and blue flag patterns. One man had on a t-shirt that said: “I’m deplorable.” A stand had been set up to sell merchandise as if at a Trump rally. US park police were present. It was not possible to see how [Trump] responded to the crowd. The motorcade is rolling on through Virginia.