Donald Trump skips G-20 'side event' on COVID-19 preparedness, plays golf instead

US President Donald Trump, on November 21, skipped a special G-20 “side event” on pandemic preparedness, but was later spotted playing golf outside Washington DC, CNN reported. The 74-year-old attended this year’s virtual G-20 summit, defying expectations of his absenteeism from yet another world summit. However, he blatantly refused to attend the after the event and left for his namesake golf course just outside the American capital city.

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Since the US Presidential election results were announced earlier on November 7, Trump has been repeatedly filmed playing his favourite sport at various courses. While this has created a stir on the internet, experts now worry about the incumbent skipping global conferences to play golf.

The G-20 which includes Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom, the United States along with the European Union hosted their annual summit on November 21. The summit began with Saudi monarch Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, who hosted the event, making opening remarks. However, 13 minutes into the meeting, Trump switched to making tweets about overturning American Presidential results.

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Due to join another G-20 summit

Immediately after the conference ended, the Republican incumbent left the conference to go to his namesake golf course just outside Washington DC, skipping the side event organized to deliberate upon pandemic preparedness, CNN reported. According to the White House schedule, the incumbent is due to join another session of the G20 on the morning of November 22 (local time). However, experts say that it is likely the last time Trump will meet a summit setting with other world leaders as the end of his presidency nears.

The G20 Summit has come around the time when the leaders of wealthiest nations assembled to discuss policies. As per reports, even though the campaigners are criticising the inadequate G20 response to the pandemic, Boris Johnson, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Jair Bolsonaro among others collectively underlined the importance of global cooperation for faster economic recovery. 

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