Story highlights The President's schedule remained in flux over the past 24 hours

On Friday, the White House first said Trump would sign tax bill in private

(CNN) President Donald Trump told aides he was eager to take questions Friday and hold a news conference to tout his accomplishments before leaving for Mar-a-Lago, but some advisers argued against it.

The aides were eager to avoid him being besieged with questions about the investigation into Russian election meddling and other matters that could overshadow the tax bill he had signed into law, two White House officials told CNN.

The President's schedule remained in flux over the last day, amid questions about whether he would stage a public bill-signing ceremony of the tax legislation or hold a news conference. Many previous presidents have held year-end news conferences before leaving for Christmas vacations.

For two straight days, Thursday and Friday, White House aides were told to prepare for a news conference of some kind.

Both plans were scrapped.

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