ABC News:
The full Senate is set to make a “field trip” to the White House Wednesday afternoon for a security briefing on the North Korean threat.
The senators were invited at the personal invitation of President Donald Trump after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, requested a briefing. The president is scheduled to “stop by” the briefing at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House grounds.
White House officials say the South Auditorium will be turned into a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or “SCIF,” and the briefing will be led by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford, and Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats.
Using the White House grounds for a full briefing with the Senate is a rare move, but administration officials told ABC News that too much shouldn’t be read into the choice of location.
Officials said that after hearing of McConnell’s request, the president suggested nonchalantly that the senators should come to the White House because he’s a “gracious host.” Trump has cultivated a reputation in his meetings at the White House for relishing the opportunity to show off his historic digs.
