White House staff has stonewalled for more than a week a group of lawmakers asking for a meeting with President Trump in a bid to convince him to sign legislation ending the U.S. role in Yemen’s civil war.
Despite an official veto recommendation from White House staff, Trump has continued to appear open-minded, saying Wednesday that the matter was “very serious” and that he would have more to say later.
Sponsors of the legislation believe Trump is willing to sign the bill, but is being told by his staff, led by national security adviser John Bolton, that he should not.
“I feel from some of his statements that he’s genuinely conflicted,” said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who signed a bipartisan letter seeking a meeting. “I think his advisers are at odds with where he is … advisers in the administration have their own interests and may not be giving him the full picture.”
The legislation hasn’t officially reached Trump’s desk, allowing lawmakers more time to lobby for a meeting.
Trump allies including Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, signed the letter requesting a meeting, as did Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, i-Vt.
“I really believe if Rand Paul, myself, Matt Gaetz, and Mike Lee got in a room with him, we would persuade the president. The challenge is, are his advisers going to allow us to do it?” Khanna said.
The White House did not comment on the decision not to respond to lawmakers. Spokespeople for the White House National Security Council, led by Bolton, are fielding inquiries on the bill.
The Yemen legislation passed the House 247-175 last week with support from Trump’s most dogged allies. Although most Republicans opposed the bill, Trump allies Reps. Mark Meadows of North Carolina and Jim Jordan of Ohio, voted in favor. It passed the Senate 54-46 last month.
“The president’s a dove. He has dovish tendencies,” Gaetz told Vice News this week. “I think that if we get some time with him, we can make our argument about how the war in Yemen runs afoul of the Trump doctrine.”
Trump routinely condemns his predecessors for the U.S. military role in Iraq, Syria, and Libya, and this year confirmed peace talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan. But he rarely speaks about the Yemeni civil war, in which the U.S. provides logistical support to a Saudi-led coalition seeking to re-establish the leadership of ousted President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who won a one-man election in 2012 before being routed by Iran-friendly Shiite rebels in 2014.
Many lawmakers voted for the Yemen legislation as a rebuke to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who the CIA assessed was responsible for ordering the murder last year of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump chose not to sanction the crown prince, and they spoke by phone Tuesday.
The war in Yemen has put millions of people at risk of starvation, according to the United Nations.
Khanna said he’s prepared with his sales pitch if White House staff allows a meeting. He notes the Trump administration already ended refueling of Saudi coalition aircraft, leaving limited logistical support involved, making the bill largely a moral statement that could help end the war.
“Politically it gives him some distance from [Crown Prince Mohammed] and the Saudis without compromising the strategic flexibility,” Khanna said.
“He would be doing one of the most historic things. He literally with the stroke of a pen could save millions of lives, and I think that would appeal to him,” Khanna said. “He would get the credit. The credit in the history books rarely goes to Congress. It goes to the president. It’s such an opportunity for him to make good on his vision for getting us out of foreign wars. He would be the first president in American history to sign a war powers resolution.”
Khanna said he plans to focus specifically on the impact of the war on children, noting Trump’s emotional response to chemical weapon attacks in Syria’s civil war.
“He was moved by reports of Syrian children, and I think he will be moved if we tell him about what’s going on in Yemen with the famine and children,” he said.
The outreach effort by sponsors of the bill has been extended due to the slow-moving process of formally delivering the bill to Trump’s desk. A Capitol Hill source said around noon Friday that delivery was expected next week. Trump could allow the resolution to take effect without his signature 10 days after it is formally presented to him.
