As Donald Trump met with Russian officials Wednesday in the Oval Office following his dismissal of FBI director James Comey, the media was let in—the Russian media that is.
MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell reported that TASS, a Russian news agency, was allowed into that meeting for pictures of Trump, Russian Ambassador Surgey Kislyak, and Russian Foreign Minister Surgey Lavrov. Thus, this hearty grip and grin between Trump and Ambassador Kislyak, shared on the Russian Embassy's Twitter feed.
When the White House press corps was finally allowed into the Oval Office, they were greeted by Trump and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. As Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff told Mitchell, “You just can't make this stuff up. The American press is kept out, the Russian press evidently allowed in.” Schiff added that Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov is “more consistently on point” with Trump’s message than his press secretary Sean Spicer.
Lavrov, at an event immediately following his meeting with Trump, told reporters that all this controversy around Comey’s dismissal was “false news” according to Trump. So now the White House press corps can just attend pressers with Russia’s foreign minister to tap into Trump’s message of the day.