WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and the first lady will be spending Thanksgiving at the White House instead of attending the annual dinner at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
The first lady’s spokesperson, Stephanie Grisham, confirmed the plans in a “Holiday Scheduling Update” on Twitter on Tuesday evening.
"Holiday Scheduling Update: The @POTUS & @flotus will be celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday at the @WhiteHouse this year," Grisham tweeted.
Trump and his family typically spend the holiday in Palm Beach and have Thanksgiving dinner in a ballroom alongside dues-paying members who purchase tickets to attend.
A spokesperson for the Trump Organization did not respond to questions Tuesday about whether the Mar-a-Lago event would be held given the spike in coronavirus cases and pleas from public health officials for Americans to limit the number of people they socialize with indoors this holiday season to limit the spread.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.
The United States has nearly 11.3 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
As of Wednesday, the U.S. had more than 248,000 deaths from the virus. Worldwide, there are more than 55 million confirmed cases with more than 1.3 million deaths.
