White House press secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed Tuesday that President Trump has spoken with Rob Porter at least once since he resigned last month amid domestic abuse allegations from two ex-wives.
Sanders said, however, that she was not aware of any plans for Porter to return to the White House, where he worked closely with Trump as staff secretary.
“There are no plans for him to come back,” Sanders said, regarding New York Times reporting that Trump has spoken about bringing back Porter.
“They have spoken one time. I’m not aware of any other conversations beyond that — just one time since his departure, that I’m aware of,” Sanders said.
Porter left the White House last month after claims from his ex-wives were made public shortly after reporting that Porter was dating then-White House communications director Hope Hicks.
The Porter scandal erupted into questions of who knew what and when and led to a tightening of access to information by people with interim security clearances, including Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner.
The Times report cited three unnamed sources, and said Trump acknowledges he probably can’t bring Porter back.
Although the Times did not say how many times Trump and Porter have spoken, the paper reported that Trump’s “calls with Mr. Porter have increased in the last few weeks.”
