The State Department stressed Monday that Rudy Giuliani, who recently was added to President Trump’s legal team, does not speak for the administration on issues of foreign policy after the former New York City mayor made controversial statements on Iran and North Korea.
“He speaks for himself and not on behalf of the administration on foreign policy,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Monday, according to the Associated Press.
Since joining the president’s legal team, Giuliani has conducted a slew of interviews with print and television media across a variety of topics.
Giuliani shocked many last week when, during an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, he admitted Trump reimbursed his longtime lawyer Michael Cohen for a $130,000 payment Cohen made to former porn star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election.
The money was given to Daniels in exchange for her silence about an affair she says she had with Trump more than a decade ago. Giuliani said Trump repaid Cohen through a series of installments last year, though the president had previously denied having any knowledge about the $130,000 payment Cohen made to Daniels.
Giuliani further caused confusion when he indicated during an interview with Fox News’ “Fox and Friends” that three U.S. citizens currently detained in North Korea would be released.
“We got Kim Jong Un impressed enough to be releasing three prisoners today,” Giuliani said.
Their release would have come as Trump is preparing for a historic summit with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, which is set to be held in May or June.
But both White House press secretary Sarah Sanders and Nauert said following Giuliani’s comments that the Trump administration could not confirm the validity of reports regarding their release.
Sanders told reporters she was not aware of Giuliani’s portfolio including issues of foreign policy. When asked whether the former mayor was involved in efforts to secure the release of the three Americans from North Korea, Sanders said, “Not that I’m aware of.”
But on Saturday, Giuliani raised eyebrows again when he said Trump is “committed” to regime change in Iran. Trump has criticized Tehran and the 2015 Iran nuclear deal but has not called for regime change.
U.S. officials were surprised by Giuliani’s comments.
