President Donald Trump weighed in on recent stories about his son Donald Trump Jr. Tuesday afternoon with a statement: "My son is a high-quality person and I applaud his transparency.” | Getty Trump calls son 'high-quality person' amid Russian lawyer scandal

President Donald Trump called his oldest son a "high-quality person" Tuesday after the White House was rocked by newly released emails showing Donald Trump Jr. cheered the Russian government’s support for his father’s presidential campaign last year.

Trump Jr. released the emails detailing how he set up a June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer, which was organized to provide the Trump campaign with purportedly damaging information about Clinton. Trump Jr. replied to one email saying that he would "love" such information.


Principal deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders held an off-camera briefing with reporters Tuesday afternoon, the first time the White House addressed the emails, which offer the most direct link yet between Trump’s campaign and the Russian government during the 2016 presidential campaign. Moscow's meddling in that election is now the subject of multiple investigations.

Sanders largely avoided the topic during the short briefing, repeatedly declining to answer questions and referring anything Russia-related to outside counsel. She stood by previous statements that there was no collusion between the campaign and the Kremlin.

Here are key moments from the briefing.

President Trump called his son a “high-quality person" in a statement read by Sanders. She took the podium 25 minutes late and, after recognizing the deaths of U.S. service members in a plane crash and discussing health care policy efforts in Congress, took the first question about the emails Trump Jr. released on Twitter Tuesday.

She responded with a brief statement from the president: “My son is a high quality person and I applaud his transparency.” She referred further questions to Trump Jr.’s attorney.

The president is frustrated by the flood of Russia stories, Sanders acknowledged. “The president is, I would say, frustrated with the process that this continues to be an issue, and he would love for us to be focused on things” like the economy and infrastructure, she said.

She denied speculation that Vice President Mike Pence was seeking to distance himself from the controversy. Pence is “not focused on stories about the campaign, particularly stories about the time before he joined the ticket,” a statement from the vice president's spokesman said Tuesday.

“There’s absolutely no distance between the president and the vice president,” Sanders said.

Politicians react to Donald Trump Jr.'s emails

Sanders stood by her assessment that no one in the campaign colluded with Russia. Pressed on whether she stood by her statement on Monday that there was no collusion, Sanders said she did, though she declined to comment further.

Sanders declined to answer questions asking how the situations described in Trump Jr.’s emails were not collusion, and she would not explain how the White House defined the term. “I’ve said all that we’re going to say on that matter,” Sanders said.

She decried the use of terms like "treason" to describe Trump Jr.'s behavior. U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who was Democrat Hillary Clinton's running mate in the 2016 election, told reporters Tuesday that the revelations were moving in the direction of showing "even potentially treason." Other Democrats speculated about whether treason could have been committed as well.

Sanders said the introduction of such terms was “ridiculous.”

Sanders would not say whether the president now believes Russia interfered in the 2016 election. Trump has given varying statements about whether he believes Russia is to blame for meddling in the campaign.

“Again, I’m not going to answer any questions on that matter,” Sanders said, before ending the briefing after less than 22 minutes.