President Trump ignored reporters’ shouted questions on the resignation of former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn, dodging the controversy during his first public appearance since Flynn’s resignation late Monday.
Instead, Trump applauded Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos during the appearance, a meeting Tuesday with parents and teachers.
“I’m going to do my job and Betsy, at the education level, will do her job,” Trump said. Trump congratulated DeVos for surviving a “very tough trial and a very unfair trial” in the Senate, where her nomination to the top job at the Education Department attracted staunch opposition from Democrats.
Flynn reportedly misled Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of his pre-inaugural conversation with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. Reports that surfaced late last week suggested Flynn had discussed possible sanctions relief with the Russian diplomat in December, despite Flynn’s statements at the time indicating the subject of sanctions had not come up during the phone call.
Pence later repeated Flynn’s denial as fact in a televised interview.
Trump accepted Flynn’s resignation late Monday evening after the White House had spent the afternoon sending mixed messages about Flynn’s fate.
