U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday joked about a “Russia room” inside the White House after a visiting Russian envoy told him that during a tour of the building, he came across a China room but not one named after his country.
The lighter exchange between Mr. Trump and the Russian envoy happened during a luncheon meeting the President had at the White House with members of the UN Security Council. Russia is a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
Mr. Trump had invited the UNSC members to the White House for a meeting on the occasion of the U.S. being the president of the 15-membered powerful UN organ for December. The UN Security Council has a rotating monthly presidency.
It all started with the remarks of the Chinese Ambassador to the UN, Zhang Jun. “We have made a tour around this -- a number of rooms -- the green one, the red one, and also the China Room, he said. “We were very much impressed.”
Soon, the Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, told Mr. Trump that he did not see a “Russia room” inside the White Hosue.
“We saw the China Room, but we didn’t see the Russia Room yet, he said.
“Oh, well, we’ll have to take care of it,” said Mr. Trump jokingly amidst laughter.
The Russian envoy joked that there is one, but it is “a secret”. “Maybe .. which is a top secret here. We couldn’t discover it,” he said.
“We’ll take care of it,” Mr. Trump reiterated jokingly.
