As President Obama boarded Air Force One to go back to his vacation on Martha's Vineyard on Tuesday afternoon, there was still no concrete explanation from the White House as to why the President had scheduled a return to work in Washington, D.C. as part of his summer break.
Before Mr. Obama left on his trip, reporters tried to get some insight from the White House on why the President was returning for meetings, but White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest would only say the get togethers were not of an emergency nature.
"(T)his is an opportunity for the President to do some in-person meetings here at the White House just for a day or two before he returns to Martha’s Vineyard," Earnest told reporters at a briefing on August 7.
"Any detail on who those in-person meetings might be with?" one reporter pressed.
"Not at this point," said the spokesman.
Aides denied that these two days were about finalizing major executive actions on immigration reform; there was nothing on his public schedule related to that matter.
The President had two meetings on his schedule on Monday - one about Iraq, the other about the troubles in Ferguson, Missouri.
On Tuesday, other than the regular intelligence briefing, the President's only event was a closed door meeting with his economic team.
Mr. Obama also had a five hour dinner on Monday evening with Sam Kass, the White House chef, who also sports the title of senior policy adviser of nutrition.
But still unsolved was why the President was even back in D.C., instead of with his family on vacation.
And it left some political types in D.C. wondering, like Jim Manley, a former top aide for both Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA).
"Still a mystery," tweeted Mike Viqueira in response, the White House correspondent for Al Jazeera America, who made clear he and others have been asking why the President broke his vacation in two.
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