WHCA President Calls Out Trump For Secret Oval Office Meeting With Saudis: ‘Disturbing’

Charlie NashJan 7th, 2020, 2:52 pm
 

@kbsalsaud

White House Correspondents’ Association President Jonathan Karl, of ABC News, released a statement Tuesday condemning President Donald Trump’s lack of transparency surrounding an Oval Office meeting with the Saudi Arabian government this week. The meeting was only revealed to the public after Saudi Arabia’s Vice Minister of Defense posted photographs on Twitter.

“President Trump met with Saudi Arabia’s Vice Minister of Defense at the White House yesterday, but the public did not learn about the meeting until the Saudi government released a statement about it today,” wrote Karl. “The Saudi government also released photographs of the President and his senior advisers meeting with the Vice Minister of Defense in the Oval Office.”

“A meeting with a foreign leader in the Oval Office should, at the very least, be on the public schedule with a read-out of the meeting released after it is over. This has been the long-standing precedent for presidents of both political parties,” he continued. “It is disturbing to see the government of Saudi Arabia have more transparency than the White House about a meeting with the President in the Oval Office.”

On Tuesday, Saudi Vice Minister of Defense Khalid bin Salman released photographs of the meeting on Twitter.

“Upon directives from HRH the Crown Prince, I had the pleasure of meeting with @RealDonaldTrump yesterday to deliver a message from the Crown Prince, and review aspects of our bilateral cooperation, including efforts to confront regional and international challenges,” he posted.

President Trump’s senior adviser Jared Kushner was photographed in attendance.

Tags: