WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump is "evaluating the situation" with national security adviser Michael Flynn, press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday.
Spicer read the statement aloud immediately after Trump avoided shouted questions from reporters at the White House.
Trump's silence about Flynn was telling. The president was willing to answer questions about another embattled member of his team, chief of staff Reince Priebus.
"Not a good job, a great job," Trump said when asked about Priebus' performance.
Flynn has been under scrutiny since the Washington Post reported last week that he discussed sanctions with a Russian diplomat before Trump took office, contradicting denials from Flynn and other White House officials, including Vice President Mike Pence.
Flynn's contacts with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak are under investigation by the FBI, according to multiple news reports.
After the Post reported on the contacts, Flynn's aides backed away from their earlier denials, telling the newspaper that he "had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn't be certain that the topic never came up."
The White House had declined to discuss Flynn's fate over the weekend. But Monday afternoon, before Spicer made his statement, Kellyanne Conway, a senior counselor to Trump, said on MSNBC that Flynn has the "full confidence of the president."
The contradictory messages have muddied the situation. Trump has yet to speak publicly about it.
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