Senators preparing to attend an unusual all-hands meeting on North Korea at the White House Wednesday said they are eager to hear President Donald Trump’s views on the increasingly tense standoff with Pyongyang.
The only problem: Trump isn’t officially confirmed to attend the session, which will bring nearly all 100 senators to an auditorium on the White House campus for an update from top administration officials.
Meanwhile, other congressional officials questioned why the session was occurring at the White House at all, suggesting the gathering could amount to a substance-free — and inconvenient — photo-op.
The varying expectations underscored the highly unusual nature of convening the session on White House grounds instead of on Capitol Hill, which administration officials said was merely a logistical decision rather than an attempt to convey any particular message.
The White House said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, Defense Secretary James Mattis and Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will lead Wednesday’s briefing, set to occur in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, adjacent to the West Wing.
Lawmakers will travel together in a fleet of buses from across town to attend the hour-long mid-afternoon briefing. A senior administration official said Tuesday that it was not yet clear whether Trump himself would make an appearance.
“If he attends — which is not determined — it will just be a brief drop-by, ” the official said.
Some senators planning to attend said they would welcome hearing from the commander in chief directly about North Korea, which analysts believe is preparing for a sixth nuclear test.
” (The White House) is an adequate place for the President and his national security team to brief everybody, ” said Sen. John McCain, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Tuesday morning. “Obviously an assessment of what could be the greatest threat that we’ve faced since the Cuban Missile Crisis — I think its very helpful to hear from the president of the United States.
