Spicer: Trump ‘evaluating situation’ with Flynn

President Trump is “evaluating the situation” surrounding embattled national security adviser Michael Flynn, his top spokesman said Monday.

“The president is evaluating the situation,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters.

The spokesman confirmed that Flynn privately apologized to Vice President Pence, who told CBS News last month that the retired Army general did not talk to Russian officials about “anything having to do with” U.S. sanctions before Trump took office.

“[The president] is speaking to Vice President Pence relative to the conversation the vice president had with Gen. Flynn and also speaking to various other people about what he considers the single most important subject there is: our national security,” Spicer said. 

Spicer’s comments fueled the uncertainty surrounding Flynn’s position in the Trump White House.  

He spoke roughly an hour after senior Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway said Flynn has the “full confidence” of the president.

Asked to square their remarks, Spicer said his reflected the president’s “most current thinking.”

The spokesman said he had just spoken with Trump in the Oval Office about the situation.

“This is what he asked me to communicate to you,” he said.

Minutes earlier, Trump declined to comment on Flynn to reporters. But he said his chief of staff, Reince Priebus, is doing “a great job.”

Trump has personally stayed quiet on Flynn’s future. He was not asked about the topic earlier Monday during a joint news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. 

Flynn has been under fire after reports surfaced that he had spoken with the Russian ambassador about sanctions before Trump took office.

After denying that such conversations had taken place, The Washington Post reported they had, citing nine current and former officials. A spokesman for Flynn told the Post that “while he had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn’t be certain that the topic never came up.”

He and other officials, including Pence, had denied that such conversations had ever taken place. A spokesman for Flynn later told The Washington Post that “while he had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn’t be certain that the topic never came up.”

Flynn is continuing to carry out his normal duties at the White House, including preparation for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump on Wednesday.  

Spicer said Flynn has not submitted a letter of resignation to the president. 

– This story was updated at 7:02 p.m.