Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry will not attend the White House, after refusing the invitation and being uninvited by the President. Credit:AP Trump's tweet: "Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team. Stephen Curry is hesitating,therefore invitation is withdrawn!" This puzzled some people - like LeBron James, who wrote to the President: "U bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain't going! So therefore ain't no invite." But if James has been paying attention, he might notice that Trump has developed a habit of pre-emptively scuttling projects that were already circling the drain.

The CEO Council President Donald Trump walks off the stage after speaking at a campaign rally on Friday. Credit:AP Curry has never been a Trump fan. Months ago, when he learned that Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank had called the new President a "real asset," the basketball player quipped to CNBC: "I agree with that description - if you remove the 'et' " But by mid-August, Plank had become one of several business advisers who resigned from the President's American Manufacturing Council in the wake of Trump's infamous comments comparing violent white nationalists who marched in Charlottesville to protesters that opposed them. From right, Under Armour CEO Kevin Plan, CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk and Jeff Fettig, CEO of Whirlpool at the White House in January. Credit:PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS

"Earlier today I called on all leaders to condemn the white supremacists and their ilk who marched and committed violence," Intel CEO Brian Krzanich wrote. "I resigned because I want to make progress, while many in Washington seem more concerned with attacking anyone who disagrees with them." The council looked headed toward collapse as other executives followed suit. At first Trump lashed out at defectors and vowed to replace them. The Daily Show correspondent Hasan Minhaj entertains the guests at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington, Saturday, which Donald Trump decided not to attend. Credit:Cliff Owen The President tweeted: "For every CEO that drops out of the Manufacturing Council, I have many to take their place. Grandstanders should not have gone on. JOBS!" Then one day later, he pulled the plug himself.

"Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum. I am ending both," Trump wrote. The Kennedy Centre Trump also has a habit of removing himself from events he senses he won't be welcome at. As in the business world, his belated condemnation of hate groups at the Charlottesville, Virginia, rally caused a backlash in the arts community in August. Three of the Kennedy Centre gala's five honorees - television producer Norman Lear, singer Lionel Richie and dancer Carmen de Lavallade - indicated that they would or could boycott the White House reception in December, where the President traditionally offers kind words to each.

But Trump pre-empted any boycotts when the White House released a statement in August saying he and the first lady would not attend the Kennedy Centre Honours "to allow the honorees to celebrate without any political distraction." The White House reception would also be cancelled for the first time in the awards' history, the Kennedy Centre announced afterward. Kennedy Centre officials said in a statement that they were "grateful" for Trump's gesture. "In choosing not to participate in this year's Honours activities, the Administration has graciously signalled its respect for the Kennedy Center and ensures the Honours gala remains a deservingly special moment for the Honorees," the statement read. The White House correspondents' dinner

His early decision to forego the Kennedy Centre Honours was reminiscent of his abrupt Twitter announcement in February that he would not attend the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in April. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said then on ABCs This Week it would be "naive" for Trump to go to the dinner, as most presidents in recent history had done, after a campaign in which he had frequently clashed with the media. "You know, one of the things we say in the South [is], 'If a Girl Scout egged your house, would you buy cookies from her?' I think that this is a pretty similar scenario," Sanders added. "There's no reason for him to go in and sit and pretend like this is going to be just another Saturday night." Nevertheless, the dinner took place as scheduled. Trump ended up holding a rally in Pennsylvania the same night, where he appealed to his base and emphasised the size of his crowd. "I could not possibly be more thrilled than to be more than 100 miles away from the Washington swamp spending my evening with all of you and with a much, much larger crowd, and much better people," Trump said.

Health-care reform These aren't the only examples. As the GOP's legislative effort to reform US health care has thrashed between life and death this year, so has Trump's embrace of the project. The President spent the summer cajoling as Republicans struggled to pass a replacement for Obama-era health insurance laws. "Go Republican Senators, Go!" Trump wrote before a crucial last-ditch vote in July, for example. But after the bill failed by one vote, apparently dooming the effort, Trump acted as though this had been his plan all along, tweeting: "3 Republicans and 48 Democrats let the American people down. As I said from the beginning, let ObamaCare implode, then deal. Watch!"

That was back in July. Lately, there's been another attempt to revive health-care reform, and Trump's tune has changed accordingly. Trump's tweet: "Rand Paul, or whoever votes against Hcare Bill, will forever (future political campaigns) be known as 'the Republican who saved ObamaCare.'" The Washington Post

