The meeting was soon taken over by Russian photographers and people from the press who snapped pictures of Trump with, Russian foreign minister Sergey V. Lavrov, minister, and Moscow's ambassador to the United States, Sergey I. Kislyak.
Advocates quickly criticized the move as a revival of the worst aspects of the drug war, which subjected nonviolent, lower-level offenders to unfairly harsh sentences that disproportionately hurt minority communities. The objective of the trip is to demonstrate how his "America first" vision isn't inconsistent with the USA ideals of democracy and freedom that allies have come to depend on.
The White House defended its original arrangement with the Russian Foreign Ministry. US administrations often treat Oval Office meetings as a type of currency, dangling the prospect of a high-profile sit-down to gain leverage or concessions in negotiations.
Scherbak said his post - addressed to U.S. media - was prompted by "this hysteria around my photo shoot at the White House".
The President's remarks come despite widespread agreement among U.S. intelligence officials and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle that Russian Federation did indeed interfere in the USA election.
While many critics have questioned why Trump would meet with a Russian official amid an ongoing investigation into whether or not Russia interfered with the 2016 election, Acosta's source at the White House defended the president.
President Donald Trump said Thursday he believes the idea that Russian Federation meddled in the 2016 election is a "made-up story" that Democrats are using to explain away his victory. But White House officials said the understanding was that the photos would be for official use, not for public distribution.
NBA Playoffs: Boston Celtics just one win away from Eastern Conference Finals
The Wizards are a completely different team at home and the road team has yet to win a game between these two clubs this season. Several members of the New England Patriots family, including Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft, were courtside.
"Our official photographer and their official photographer were present - that's it", a White House aide said. "Proper protocol was followed in this procedure", she said. "For them to try to attack him for doing his job, maybe they should spend a little more time doing their jobs and we wouldn't have all the problems that we do".
In response to a former national security adviser's Twitter question on whether the decision to allow a Russian government photographer to be the only one to cover the event was sound, a former deputy Central Intelligence Agency director, David S. Cohen, replied, "No, it was not".
Michael A. McFaul, a former ambassador to Russian Federation, recalled arranging President Barack Obama's first meeting with Lavrov in May 2009, which included a traditional "pool spray" for the White House press corps. "Russia told them that a state media agency photographer was actually the official government photographer". "The meeting in the Oval Office lasted around 30 minutes".
There was nothing unusual about the photoshoot with Trump and Lavrov.
Referring to the photograph of Trump with the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pavlo Klimkin "in the very same Oval Office", in which Klimkin is seen with his hands on Trump's table, with the president seated beside him, the Russian official pointed out that the Ukrainian minister might had left his fingerprints on the U.S. president's desk.
The firing of FBI Director James Comey will complicate President Donald Trump's first foreign trips, with world leaders increasingly skeptical of working with a White House clouded in turmoil.
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