Like many denizens of Washington DC, US president Donald Trump is escaping the heat that smothers the nation's capital in August.
US President Donald Trump boards Air Donald Trump boards Air Force One to head off on summer vacation. Photo: AFP
But his respite is anything but brief. The president will spend 17 days at his private golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, for what the White House bills a "working vacation".
For someone who brands himself as an indefatigable worker, the nearly three-week holiday has raised a few eyebrows.
Mr Trump often critisised President Barack Obama for his penchant for golf.
@BarackObama played golf yesterday. Now he heads to a 10 day vacation in Martha's Vineyard. Nice work ethic.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 15, 2011
But as critics point out, Mr Trump's 17-day holiday is nearly twice as long as the one Mr Obama took in August during his first year.
If weekends are included, that means he's taking off 13 days, compared with Mr Obama's eight.
"I'm going to be working for you, I'm not going to have time to go play golf," Mr Trump told a Virginia crowd during the campaign, in a gibe at Mr Obama.
In his 2004 book, Think Like a Billionaire, Mr Trump offered the advice: "Don't take vacations. What's the point? If you're not enjoying your work, you're in the wrong job."
However, the president's departure is also part of a planned renovation. The entire West Wing staff is required to vacate the premises in August while the building's 27-year-old heating, air conditioning and ventilation system is replaced, according to White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters.
Other maintenance includes repairing steps on the side of the executive mansion facing the National Mall as well as painting, replacing carpets and curtains, and fixing, water leaks in the press office.
Is it normal for presidents to go on holiday?
The tradition of presidential vacations extends as far back as George Washington, who much preferred spending time at his Mount Vernon plantation on the Potomac River.
But the custom of controversy over presidential absences from the White House is nearly just as old.
When the capital was still Philadelphia in 1797, President John Adams was criticised for spending several months at his home in Massachusetts, where his sick wife Abigail stayed, as tensions escalated with France.
President Harry Truman preferred the palm trees of Key West, Florida, while Ronald Reagan travelled to his California ranch to ride horses, build fences and cut brush, according to Lawrence Knutson, a historian for the White House Historical Association.
Famous images show a tanned John F Kennedy at his holiday home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, and George HW Bush recharged at his Walker Point residence in Kennebunkport, Maine.
President Richard Nixon split his time between his estates in Key Biscayne, Florida, and San Clemente, California.
He later came under scrutiny for funnelling millions in public funds towards security and improvements at both residences, including a floating helicopter pad in Biscayne Bay.
- BBC
