MS. SANDERS: Yeah, this was something that the Israelis did. However, they did give us a heads up that it was going to take place prior to the announcement.
Q Sarah, back to the President's tweet this morning. He said there is no question on collusion. But when you look at these specific questions about outreach by the campaign to Russia, aren't these questions about collusion?
MS. SANDERS: Once again, I'm not going to get into a back-and-forth about questions leaked, or anything having to do with the Special Counsel. And I would refer you to the President's attorneys.
Q And just one more. Does this list factor at all into whether or not the President will or will not speak with the Special Counsel?
MS. SANDERS: Once again, I would refer you to the President's outside counsel for that.
Q But in terms of that, though, the President has said before, several times, he would like to sit down with the Special Counsel. Where is he on that? Do you believe he has made up his mind on that?
MS. SANDERS: Again, I would refer you to the President's outside counsel to -
Q Will this impact it at all, do you think?
MS. SANDERS: Again, I'm not going to get into a back-and-forth on any matters related to the Special Counsel.
Q Let me try a different topic, if I can. On the NSC, the NSC says it was a clerical error. But how does a mistake like this get made? And do you believe that the White House has a credibility problem around the world with its statements like this? Do you take this seriously?
MS. SANDERS: Absolutely - which is why we immediately corrected it. But again, I think the biggest mistake is the fact that the United States ever entered into the Iran deal in the first place. That, to me, seems to be the biggest mistake in this process; not a simple typo that was immediately corrected and notified individuals as soon as we knew that it had happened.
Q But the White House never sent out a corrected statement. They put it on their website, but they have never sent out a corrected statement. Why is that?
MS. SANDERS: We responded to every journalist inquiry that we received that we're aware of, or to the best that we could, responded to each person that asked about that.
Q Sarah, the President yesterday talked about holding his meeting with Kim Jong-un in the DMZ. And he said there are some people that don't like the look of it. Has the location of this meeting and doing it in the DMZ been the subject of some debate internally? And what qualms might some members of the staff have about holding the meeting there?
MS. SANDERS: I'm not going to get into the deliberations on this at this point, but the list has been narrowed, as the President said. And we expect to have an announcement on that soon.
Q
Can I ask one more follow-up on Iran?
MS. SANDERS: Sure.
Q You said twice now that the Iranian nuclear deal was made under false pretenses. But as is clear from the historical record, the U.S. and its partners made this deal with Iran precisely because they knew Iran wasn't truthful about its military nuclear program. So are you suggesting that back in 2014-15, we believed Iran?
MS. SANDERS: I'm suggesting that the deal never should have been made in the first place. And even the fact that they had been known to be bad actors to some degree, the degree to which they were not being honest was not fully known at the time the Iran deal was made. That is our understanding.
Q Thanks, Sarah. Two questions. One is about the lawsuit filed today by California and 17 other states over their right to have EPA fuel standards in cars. They're fighting the administration on this. I wanted to know what your response was to the lawsuit, and also the broader question that this administration seems to be on the other side of the traditional Republican argument on states' rights on a number of cases. Is there any apprehension internally about having such a heavy hand with the states?
MS. SANDERS: Certainly, the administration supports state rights. In regards to the specific lawsuit, we're reviewing that, and we'll let you know when we have a statement out.
Q And the second question was about the NRA meeting this week. There are a lot of Americans who say this is an insensitive time to be speaking to the NRA given the epidemic of gun violence, which the President himself has talked about. What's the administration's response to that? Why make the decision to speak at the NRA now? As the President has said before, a lot of Presidents have not spoken before the NRA at their annual convention.
MS. SANDERS: Certainly, as we have indicated on many occasions, safety is a big priority. Security is a big priority for the administration. But we also support the Second Amendment, and strongly support it, and don't see there to be a problem with speaking at the National Rifle Association's meeting.
Ayesha.
Q Thank you. You mentioned earlier - or you were asked about the VA Secretary. Where does the White House stand in that decision-making process? Are you guys talking to potential candidates now about that position?
MS. SANDERS: We are. And the President will be meeting with a number of individuals over the next couple of weeks. And we'll keep you guys posted as we get further in that process.
John.
Q Thank you, Sarah. In his recent appearance on "Fox & Friends," the President offered a vague criticism of the Electoral College and suggested reform was in order. Several pundits after interpreted this as support for the controversial National Popular Vote Plan, in which states give their electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote nationally. Is that what the President meant? Could you offer a more perspicacious - (laughter) - definition of what he said in that interview?
MS. SANDERS: I don't have any policy announcements on that front or something that we're looking to do. But certainly, we want to always look for the best way to preserve the integrity of our elections.
Q Well, also, was he aware that the Republican National Committee, in May of 2011, had a resolution condemning that National Popular Vote Plan?
MS. SANDERS: I'm not sure if he was aware, but I am pretty sure that the President is more than happy, at times, to say what he thinks is right, whether or not that there was a statement made many years ago contrary to that.
Olivier.
Q Thank you, Sarah. I've got a couple on foreign policy. You mentioned the Afghan attack. When Senator Rand Paul came out and said he was going to support Mike Pompeo for Secretary of State, he said that he was doing so because Mike Pompeo now agreed with the President that the time is now to withdraw from Afghanistan. Does the President agree with that characterization of his views?
MS. SANDERS: I don't have any updated policy guidance on that front. We laid out our Afghanistan strategy just a few months ago, and there's no change to that policy at this point.
Q And then on Iran, the question of what it means to withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement has come up a couple times. In the President's mind, does that mean immediately re-imposing sanctions, doing what's called "snapback"? Or does he mean something else?
MS. SANDERS: I'm not going to get ahead of anything the President may or may not do. And once he makes the final decision, he'll make that announcement.
Last question. Brian.
Q Thank you very much, Sarah. When the President spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, did the Israeli trove of documents about Iran's nuclear program come up? And did the President encourage Israel to release those documents on Monday?
MS. SANDERS: I'm not sure beyond the readout of the call, but I do know that we had discussions with Israel about their rollout and we were notified prior to their announcement being made yesterday.Q Did the White House encourage Israel on the timing of the release?
MS. SANDERS: I'm not aware of specific coordination on the timing, but we certainly supported their announcements and supported their efforts.
Q Was there desire by the White House to have Israel release these documents in order to influence the domestic debate here in the United States, in order to paint the deal in a different light?
MS. SANDERS: I think there was a desire to make sure people understood the truth and had all of the information that was out there.
Thanks so much, guys.
END
