Q And then, secondly -
MS. SANDERS: Sorry, you had two questions.
Q - President Trump said today that he still has faith in EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. Do you know if he was aware, when he said that, about these new Freedom of Information Act documents that showed, last year, Administrator Pruitt had dinner, in Rome, with a Catholic cardinal who was under investigation for child sex abuse?
MS. SANDERS: I'm not aware of that. I haven't spoken with the President about Administrator Pruitt today.
Catherine.
Q Sarah, following up on that question about Kelly Sadler's comment, does the White House not think that you need to condemn these remarks, or comment, or issue an apology?
MS. SANDERS: Again, I'm not going to validate a leak, one or the other, out of an internal staff meeting.
Q Are you saying that she didn't say this?
MS. SANDERS: Again, I'm not going to validate a leak out of an internal staff meeting, one way or the other.
Jonathan.
Q Does the President regret what he said during the campaign about John McCain, when he said he wasn't a war hero; he prefers people that weren't captured?
MS. SANDERS: I believe the President has spoken about that. I haven't talked with him specifically about that.
Jeff.
Q If you won't comment on the specific comment, what does the White House believe about Senator McCain? And is there a tone set from the top here where it is allowed for an aide to say he's "dying anyway"?
MS. SANDERS: Certainly there is not a tone set here. We have a respect for all Americans, and that is what we try to put forward in everything we do, both in word and in action, focusing on doing things that help every American in this country every single day. And I think if you look at the policies we've put forth, you'll see that reflected.
Q Why not just apologize to Senator McCain, though? Wouldn't that be easier for the White House just to apologize?
MS. SANDERS: Again, I'm not going to get into a back-and-forth, because people want to create issues -
Q But why are you digging your heels over this?
MS. SANDERS: - of leaked staff meetings.
Q Does the President have confidence in Secretary Nielsen?
MS. SANDERS: As we've said many times before, if the President no longer has confidence in a Cabinet member, he'll let you know.
Q Sarah, in that regard, what more does the President think Nielsen could do now under the law that she hasn't done already? Does he really think - really want her to close the U.S.-Mexico border?
MS. SANDERS: The President wants us to do a number of things. He wants us to work with Congress, as we've laid out time and time again and as we've called on them to do. If Democrats in Congress would stop playing political games, we'd love to secure the border. We'd love to close the loopholes in the system. We would love to get a fix on DACA. There are a number of things that we've laid out, and we'd like to see all of those things get done.
Q Does he support the Republicans pushing to get a vote on the floor of the House to get this issue going?
MS. SANDERS: If it addressed all of those problems, certainly we would support things that actually fix the broken immigration system that we have.
Steven.
Q The Secretary of Homeland Security made a statement last night in which she said that the President was rightfully frustrated by congressional inaction. Why was that frustration - reportedly - expressed at the Secretary herself? She doesn't serve in Congress and she can only act under what's enacted in law by the Congress. So why did the President direct his frustration specifically at her at the Cabinet meeting?
MS. SANDERS: Again, I'm not going to get into a back-and-forth with you guys on an internal meeting. However, I can tell you that both the President and the Secretary share the frustration that Congress is simply not showing up to work and getting their job done.
Democrats have got to stop playing games. They've got to stop doing this just because it's a midterm year. They still have to do their job, and we would like to see them fix our immigration system.
Not only is the administration frustrated, but Americans are too. Eighty percent of Americans would like to see this problem fixed. They want something to be done. They are begging Congress to do it, and certainly, I think, not only does the President have a right to be frustrated, he has a right to be angry. And he is. And he's going to express that. He's done it both publicly, and he's going to continue to do that until we can actually fix this problem.
Mike.
Q On NAFTA, is the White House on track to meet Speaker Ryan's deadline next Thursday?
MS. SANDERS: I'm sorry, can you speak up?
Q Is the White House on track to meet Speaker Ryan's deadline next Thursday on NAFTA?
MS. SANDERS: We're continuing in these conversations and we've made progress, and hopefully we'll get there.
Q If it doesn't reach it by Thursday, is the President really willing to revisit this after the elections in Mexico and the midterms?
MS. SANDERS: We'll let you know.
Kristen.
Q Sarah, just a quick follow-up on one of my colleagues. To be clear, does Kelly Sadler still work at this White House?
MS. SANDERS: Yes, she does.
Q She does? Okay. And to follow up on that, more broadly, does the President set the tone? Does he bear responsibility for the tone within this White House?
MS. SANDERS: The President, as I mentioned just a moment ago, supports all Americans. If you look at what he's doing every single day, he's showing up to work, he's working hard to make this country better, whether it's through building our economy, creating jobs, defeating ISIS, fixing our judiciary system, helping with the legal immigration problems that we have. The President is addressing a number of issues. That is what our focus is. That is what we are doing here every day. And that is what the President has, I think, laid out very clearly what is interests are.
Q Understood. But my question is a little different. Does he bear responsibility for the tone set here at the White House, and all of the staffers who work here, frankly?
MS. SANDERS: Certainly does. And I think he has done a good job of laying out what the priorities of the administration are and that what they are doing is helping impact Americans all across the country.
Saagar.
Q And just very quickly -
MS. SANDERS: Sorry, Kristen, I'm going to keep moving. We've been here a while.
Q Very quickly - so many of us have spoken -
MS. SANDERS: Kristen, I'm going to keep going. Saagar, go ahead.
Q - to people who've said they've heard these comments. Do you say that they're lying?
MS. SANDERS: Sorry, go ahead.
Q Sarah, General Kelly came out and endorsed, in an NPR interview, a pathway to citizenship for temporary protected status recipients who have been in the United States for quite some time. Does the President share General Kelly's view on that?
MS. SANDERS: I haven't seen that specific comment from the interview. I certainly know that both the President and General Kelly want to fix the system. I'd have to look at that specific comment in the interview.
Q But to follow up on that, did General Kelly oppose the administration's push to end TPS and actually give a deadline to some people who have been here for over 20 years to leave the country? Is he specifically against that?
MS. SANDERS: Again, I would have to look at the comment before I could weigh in.
Right here.
Q Thank you, Sarah. South Korea has a huge stake in whatever Trump and Kim agree upon. Will President Moon or another representative of South Korea be at the talks?
MS. SANDERS: I don't believe that there are plans for them to be part of that specific day, but certainly have been a partner in this entire process. And, as you know, President Moon will be here on the 22nd to continue those conversations, and we continue to be in lockstep with the South Koreans.
Hunter.
Q Thank you, Sarah. On Wednesday, the President tweeted, "The fake news is working overtime." And he said, "91% of the Network News about me is negative (Fake)." Do you have the view that all negative stories about the President are fake?
MS. SANDERS: No.
Q Why would he say that, then?
MS. SANDERS: I'll take one last question.
Ayesha. Ayesha, right here.
Q Thank you. Just to follow up on these payments that Michael Cohen received from AT&T and Novartis. You said that this is a sign that the President won't be influenced. But just to be - but just to clarify, does the President think it's appropriate for his personal attorney to be collecting payments from private companies, presumably saying that - or presumably promising to influence policy or to give them strategy on government policy?
MS. SANDERS: I think the bigger point is that the President isn't going to be influenced by outside special interests; he's going to do what he finds to be in the best interest of Americans across the country.
Thanks so much, guys. Hope you have a great weekend and Happy Mother's Day.
END
