Obama tees off before Asia trip

President Obama is spending Saturday afternoon on the golf course with staffers before heading off for a weeklong trip across Asia this week.

The president was joined by longtime aides Marvin Nicholson, Joe Paulsen, and Mike Brush. All three work in the White House advance office, which coordinates travel and scheduling.

The presidential motorcade arrived at Fort Belvoir, just outside Washington in Fairfax County, Va., just after 12:30 p.m. for the game, according to a reporter traveling with the president.

All three staffers are frequent partners of Obama on the golf course. Nicholson, the White House trip director, has played more than 140 rounds of golf with the president since joining his staff in 2008.

The golf game comes after Obama held a rare weekend event at the White House to announce his nomination for attorney general, New York prosecutor Loretta Lynch.

Obama will leave for Beijing, China, by way of Anchorage, Alaska, later in the afternoon. The three-country visit will include meetings in China, Burma and Australia.