Trump goes AWOL, hasn't shown up to work all week

His strange disappearing act comes as Trump’s family becomes deeply embroiled in the Russia collusion story, and while the Republican Party is trying to generate momentum to pass its health care bill.

Instead of having a full schedule in the wake of a multiple-day trip last week to the G20 summit in Europe, Trump has disappeared. He hasn’t had an official public, stateside appearance in more than a week.

The current vanishing act stands in stark contrast to the way Trump routinely made public appearances during his first 100 days in office, generating headlines with executive order ceremonies, fake signing ceremonies, and round table meetings with business leaders.

The events were widely covered in the press, which helped the White House project the image of a robust, hard-working president. “Top White House aides even bragged about media access to the President,” CNN once noted.

But no more.

From the Boston Globe’s Matt Viser:

The last public event President Trump had was in Hamburg, Germany. The next public event on his schedule is in Paris, France.

— Matt Viser (@mviser) July 12, 2017

And ABC’s Jonathan Karl:

For the 3rd day in a row: no public event on @realDonaldTrump's schedule. And there's been no @seanspicer briefing more than two weeks pic.twitter.com/Y6jTupt3gB

— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) July 12, 2017

Trump has not given a full-fledged press conference since February, and has not sat down for a one-on-one news interview with a legitimate news source since May 11. Just before Trump fired FBI Director James Comey in May, he also disappeared from public for nearly a week.

Trump hasn’t been seen in public since returning from the G20 summit, where he was widely criticized for rolling over during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Trump Handed Putin a Stunning Victory,” read the Politico headline.

He apparently welcomed some religious leaders to the White House Tuesday, although the event was not on his public schedule.

Such an honor to pray within the Oval Office for @POTUS & @VP . pic.twitter.com/JrDOSJyFeN

— Rev. Johnnie Moore ن (@JohnnieM) July 12, 2017

Trump leaves for Paris Thursday night for a two-day visit. There’s also White House chatter that Trump might take off the entire month of August, even while the GOP considers putting off its summer recess because it’s facing many legislative deadlines.

In contrast to Trump’s somnambulant public schedule, Vice President Mike Pence has been very, very busy as he travels the country, quite often to swing states, and raises his profile to presidential proportions.