Trump postpones his meeting with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s sit-down with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that was scheduled for Thursday will be moved to next week. In a statement, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the meeting was postponed due to the ongoing Senate hearings on sexual assault allegations made against Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh.

“The President spoke with Rod Rosenstein a few minutes ago and they plan to meet next week. They do not want to do anything to interfere with the hearing,” Sanders said.

The White House meeting between the president and deputy attorney general was originally scheduled in the wake of a flurry of conflicting reports Monday saying Rosenstein had either quit or was set to be fired. At the time, Trump was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. Trump returned to the White House Thursday afternoon, shortly before the decision to move the meeting was announced. As he walked back into the White House, the president ignored questions from reporters about his meeting with Rosenstein.

Rumors about Rosenstein’s ouster were fueled by a New York Times report that said the deputy attorney general had discussed secretly taping the president and using the 25th Amendment to remove him from office. There had already been tensions between Rosenstein and Trump because the deputy attorney general is overseeing the Justice Department’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Trump has repeatedly criticized that probe as a “witch hunt.”

The president first brought up the possibility of moving his meeting with Rosenstein at a marathon press conference on Wednesday. During those remarks, Trump said he might ask Rosenstein for a delay due to the Kavanaugh hearing. The president further said he had discussed the Times report with the deputy attorney general and that Rosenstein stated he “never said” anything about tapping Trump or pushing to remove him from office. At that time, Trump indicated he would rather keep Rosenstein on and allow him to conclude the Russia probe.

“My preference would be to keep him. And to let him finish up,” Trump said.

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