White House Press Association Rebukes Trump Administration for Secret Saudi Meeting in Oval Office
The White House Correspondents’ Association rebuked President Trump’s administration on Tuesday for an Oval Office meeting with Saudi Vice Minister of Defense Khalid bin Salman that was not publicly disclosed. The meeting was discovered Monday when Saudi Arabia released a statement and photos.
“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,” the WHCA statement said.
“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.”
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The statement went on to say that was a “long-standing precedent for presidents of both political parties.”
“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,” concluded the message, which was signed by association president Jonathan Karl.
A representative for the White House did not immediately return TheWrap’s request for comment.
WHCA Statement on White House Meeting with Saudi Minister pic.twitter.com/OneVtd8Wcw
– WHCA (@whca) January 7, 2020
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