President Trump will not be meeting with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro when both are in New York next week for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly.
That’s what national security advisor H.R. McMaster told Newsmax Friday. McMaster and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley briefed reporters at the White House on the president’s trip to the UN General Assembly Monday.
Asked by Newsmax if he intends to speak with the Venezuelan strongman — where strong U.S. sanctions were imposed following Maduro’s moves to limit democratic institutions — McMaster said he thought "it's unlikely he’ll speak with President Maduro."
"As you know, the United States designated President Maduro after he victimized his own people," McMaster added. "[He] victimized his own people, denied them their rights under his own Constitution."
He recalled how President Trump made clear that "he's willing to talk at some point in the future but it will have to be after rights are restored to the Venezuelan people."
When U.S. presidents want to avoid world leaders, their advance teams often take pains to logistically avoid those leaders. At the opening of the UN General Assembly in 2007, the movements of then-President George W. Bush were carefully watched so that he would not encounter the other head of state he wanted no part of — then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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