title:  Trump’s ‘Major Meeting’ On Veterans Affairs Never Took Place, But He Did Play Golf
text: A  major meeting  on veterans affairs didn t happen yesterday evening despite Trump s announcement earlier in the day.Watch:Trump asks VA @SecShulkin if he's going to Mar-a-Lago. Shulkin shakes his head. pic.twitter.com/aZyiBC9Gnj  POLITICO (@politico) March 17, 2017The White House hasn t given any reason for the change in plans, but it must not have been Trump s bad feet, which prevented him from serving his country in Vietnam because he did manage to get some golf in.The most likely reason is that Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin wasn t planning to attend, as he indicated with a shake of his head in the above video   something Trump didn t seem to be aware of or care about. This didn t stop other veteran advocates like Marvel Entertainment CEO Ike Perlmutter from going. Why was Shulkin such a schtick in the mud? Maybe it s because the meeting was due to be held at Mar-a-Lago, Trump s West Palm Beach golf castle, and Shulkin didn t have his shots.Speaking of Mar-a-Lago, this is Trump s fifth weekend there since his inauguration five weekends ago. Check this out:The diagram shows how much time Trump spends playing hooky from the  northern White House.  Good work if you can get it.Trump has spent nearly a quarter of his time at Mar-a-Lago since taking office. A lot of elderly people like to go to the Sunshine state when they need a break.By the way, who s paying for the $3M a pop to the  southern White House?  Not veterans programs, at least, not yet. The Department of Veterans Affairs is penciled in for a 6% bump in Trump s budget proposal, which is currently facing a rocky road in the ongoing Federal budget process. As far as fiscal 2017 goes, most departments have been operating on a continuing budget resolution good through the end of April. If things aren t ironed out by then, the resulting partial government shutdown shouldn t affect most veterans services significantly, since VA funding has already been approved.Featured image via Mario Tama/Getty Images