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ASSOCIATED PRESS
This Aug. 1, 2014, photo shows President Barack Obama as he smiles near the conclusion of a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, Aug. 1, 2014. President Barack Obama is starting his birthday weekend with a round of golf before escaping to the Maryland mountains. Obama turns 53 on Monday. In what's become an annual birthday tradition, he's joining friends on the green for an early morning round at Andrews Air Force Base in suburban Maryland. He'll board Marine One later Saturday for the short helicopter flight to Camp David, the presidential retreat in the Catoctin Mountains. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
WASHINGTON >> President Barack Obama kept a low public profile as he celebrated his 53rd birthday.
Obama had no public events scheduled Monday, though he will got his daily briefing and met with Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew.
Obama held a weekend celebration on the golf course and at Camp David, the presidential retreat in the Maryland mountains.
In what’s become an annual birthday tradition, he joined friends on the green Saturday for an early morning round at Andrews Air Force Base in suburban Maryland, where the clouds threatening rain held off long enough for the president to get in 18 holes.
Rounding out his foursome were presidential pals Mike Ramos, Bobby Titcomb and Greg Orme, the White House said. All three are longtime friends dating back to Obama’s childhood in Hawaii.
Although they teed off against eight other golfers, Obama and his team finished with the winning score, the White House said. In another birthday ritual, that victory earned Obama’s three teammates a ride with the president aboard Marine One for the short flight to Camp David, the presidential retreat in the Catoctin Mountains.
The president’s birthday comes amid a trying stretch for the White House on both domestic and international issues. As Obama was being peppered with political and policy questions during a news conference Friday, he said: “I thought that you guys were going to ask me how I was going to spend my birthday.”
