President Trump is standing squarely behind Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, an official says, in the wake of new allegations against the embattled Supreme Court nominee.

"Yes," an official traveling with the president said when asked if Trump is standing by Kavanaugh. "Nothing's changed."

The president is only now being brought up to speed on the latest developments, after spending more than two hours away from television while chairing a meeting of the United Nations Security Council.

Trump has more than an hourlong gap in his schedule now, before an afternoon meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He is watching television coverage and reading news accounts, an official said.

Aides say the president will continue to blast the allegations as highly-partisan. The White House did not want the hearing delayed, an official said, as the president has made clear repeatedly.

The president has already taken the reins of defending Kavanaugh and is expected to do so if asked by reporters during meetings with world leaders this afternoon. He will have the chance to defend him -- and blast Michael Avenatti -- during his 5 p.m. ET news conference.