The White House responded to an NPR report revealing that U.S. government papers about the President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin summit in Alaska were left on a public hotel printer, dismissing it as “hilarious.”
“It’s hilarious that NPR is publishing a multi-page lunch menu and calling it a ‘security breach,’” White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a Saturday statement to The Hill’s sister network, NewsNation. “This type of self-proclaimed ‘investigative journalism’ is why no one takes them seriously and they are no longer taxpayer-funded thanks to President Trump.”
NPR reported that the eight papers, which contained information about meetings and locations of the summit, along with phone numbers of three U.S. government workers, were found on a hotel printer before the Friday Trump-Putin meeting at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near Anchorage.
The first page of the papers showed the sequence of meetings for Friday, including information that the president would give Putin a gift. Pages two through five showed the names of the top U.S. and Russian officials in Alaska on Friday. Page two showed the phone numbers of three U.S. advance staffers. Pages six and seven showcased the lunch seating chart and the menu.
The planned lunch did not take place on Friday, but it would have included a three-course meal, including a salad, filet mignon and or halibut olympia, according to documents obtained by NPR.
The documents appear to be produced by the Office of the Chief of Protocol, part of the State Department that seeks to “advance the foreign policy goals of the United States by creating an environment for successful diplomacy. Our team extends the first hand that welcomes presidents, prime ministers, ruling monarchs, and other leaders to our country.”
