President Trump said Thursday he “certainly” would have directed his former national security adviser to discuss sanctions with Russian officials if he hadn’t already done so himself, adding new fuel to the growing controversy surrounding Mike Flynn.
“I fired him because of what he said to Mike Pence,” Trump said of Flynn at a freewheeling press conference in the White House East Room.
“Mike was doing his job. He was calling countries and his counterparts, so it certainly would have been OK with me if he did it,” he added. “I didn’t direct him, but I would have directed him because that’s his job.
“I would have directed him if he didn’t do it,” Trump repeated.
Flynn was asked to resign on Monday amid reports that he misled the vice president on whether he had discussed President Obama’s decision to impose new sanctions on Russia over the country’s hack-and-release activities during the general election.
