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Trump Ditches Press Pool to Dine at the 21 Club With Family

By Nicole Levy | November 16, 2016 11:15am | Updated on November 16, 2016 2:47pm
 President-elect Donald Trump left his press pool behind when he went to dinner at the 21 Club Tuesday night, breaking a long-established presidential protocol.
President-elect Donald Trump left his press pool behind when he went to dinner at the 21 Club Tuesday night, breaking a long-established presidential protocol.
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21 Club; DNAinfo/Ben Fractenberg

He can't have his steak and eat it, too.

President-elect Donald Trump ditched his new press pool Tuesday night to eat dinner with his family at the 21 Club steakhouse, breaking presidential protocol in the process.

Trump slipped out of his home at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in a motorcade less than two hours after his press secretary, Hope Hicks, told reporters he would be staying put for the rest of the evening, the New York magazine reported.

The soon-to-be president was spotted at the Midtown restaurant with his wife, Melania, as well as his four grown-up children and their partners by off-duty Bloomberg reporter Taylor Riggs, who noted that Trump received a the standing ovation upon entering the restaurant.

Trump's public appearance without reporters in tow meant that he was without a "protective press pool," which is a group of journalists that monitors the POTUS' every move in case of an emergency, CNN's Noah Gray explained on Twitter.

When reporters and photographers did catch up with the Trump entourage at the 21 Club Tuesday evening, they were forced to wait outside.

Spokeswoman Hicks told the press that the incident is a symptom of transitional hiccups and not an indication of what the president-elect's attitude toward the press will be after his inauguration.

This isn't the first time Trump has traveled without reporters monitoring his every move, but in this instance the allure of a $68 28-day dry-aged ribeye steak may have clouded his judgment.