On Unannounced White House Meeting with Saudi Minister

“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 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.  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.”

– Jonathan Karl, President, The White House Correspondents’ Association