The State Department says that President Trump’s new lawyer Rudy Giuliani does not speak for the White House on matters of foreign policy following the former New York mayor’s controversial comments on North Korea and Iran.
“He speaks for himself and not on behalf of the administration on foreign policy,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told The Associated Press on Monday.
Since Trump hired him to join his legal team addressing special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian collusion, Giuliani has created controversy by making claims about Trump’s legal strategy and also international affairs.
Last week, Giuliani told Fox News that North Korea would release three American prisoners, even though no formal announcement of their release had yet been made.
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North Korea — who is currently in talks with the U.S. as both countries prepare for an upcoming summit to discuss Pyongyang’s nuclear program — has yet to release the prisoners.
Giuliani caused more controversy on Saturday when he said that the U.S. is “committed” to regime change in Iran.
The White House, though sharply critical of Tehran, has not directly called for Iranian regime change.
Giuliani’s comments come at a tense moment in the U.S.’s relationship with Iran as Trump prepares to announce his decision on whether the U.S. will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.
Critics have said that canceling the Obama-era deal could make North Korea hesitant to enter into a new one, knowing it could simply be abandoned by a future administration.
Trump plans to make his call on the Iran nuclear accord public on Tuesday.
U.S. officials were alarmed by Giuliani’s comments and said they weren’t consistent with the White House’s policy.
Last week, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that, as far as she was aware, Giuliani’s portfolio did not include foreign policy.