White House to stop issuing public summaries of calls with foreign leaders
The White House will no longer issue public summaries of the president's phone calls with foreign heads of state, breaking with the tradition of past administrations, CBS News has confirmed.
Until now, the administration has typically provided such readouts, albeit brief ones, of the president's calls with his foreign counterparts, although that practice has subsided since John Bolton took over as national security adviser. CNN first reported the White House is putting a halt to the practice.
That means what the public learns about the president's conversations may have to rely heavily on any readouts provided by foreign countries, as foreign nations often provide such readouts.
Non-public readouts of the president's calls will still be circulated among government officials at relevant agencies.
CBS News has also learned the White House may provide to the media confirmation of the president's calls, and only select details.
A White House official had no comment and declined to say why the administration would be ending the practice.
CBS News' Arden Farhi contributed to this report.