By Agence France-Presse President Donald Trump kicked off the start of the American summer season on Saturday with his first golf outing in two months, underlining his push for a return to normal life in the United States. President Donald Trump returns to the White House after golfing at the Trump National club in Sterling, Virginia on May 23, 2020 (AFP / MANDEL NGAN / MANILA BULLETIN) With lockdowns easing across the country and the US leader ramping up his travels, Trump also confirmed he would attend a space launch in Florida next week. As the US marked Memorial Day weekend -- the country's unofficial start of summer -- Trump took a 35-minute drive from the White House to the Trump National club in Sterling, Virginia, in his first visit to a golf property since March 8. US media captured footage of the president, an avid golfer before the coronavirus lockdown, on the course on the warm sunny day, dressed in a white shirt and dark trousers. Neither Trump nor his three golf partners wore masks, though he rode alone in his golf cart, a CNN journalist reported. White House coronavirus advisor Deborah Birx on Friday said that sports such as golf could be played safely if social distancing was in place and players didn't touch flags. But she also warned that the Washington area continued to have high positive test rates. Trump, keen to find a way out of the coronavirus crisis and facing an uphill re-election battle, has ramped up pressure on state and local governments to ease lockdown measures. On Friday, he demanded state governors classify churches, synagogues and mosques as "essential services" on the same level as food and drug stores, and immediately allow them to hold services. The pandemic has hammered the American economy and led to a fierce debate over virus restrictions, even as COVID-19 numbers continue rising in parts of the US -- the worst-hit country in the world, with 1.6 million infections and more than 96,000 deaths.