Pence to lead US delegation in South Korea for Winter Olympics
Pence to lead US delegation in South Korea for Winter Olympics
Vice President Mike Pence speaks to reporters at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan, Dec. 22, 2017. He will lead the U.S. delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea next month.
(Reuters)
Vice President Mike Pence is set to lead the U.S. delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea next month, U.S. officials said Tuesday.
Pence is expected to be joined by first daughter Ivanka Trump, but her attendance isn’t confirmed, officials told the Wall Street Journal. Second lady Karen Pence also is expected to be part of the delegation.
President Donald Trump plans to name other members of the U.S. delegation for the Games in Pyeongchang, which run from Feb. 9-25, the report said.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House press secretary, said a number of senior members of the Cabinet and administration would attend, the newspaper reported.
“We are finalizing the delegation and will announce [it] soon,” Sanders said Tuesday evening.
Other U.S. foreign diplomatic officials — including presidential aide Jared Kushner, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson — won’t attend, officials told the newspaper.
The State Department said Tuesday that there were no plans for officials of the U.S. and North Korea to convene during the Games, which are happening amid tensions over the North’s nuclear-weapons program, the Journal reported.
North Korea and South Korea agreed Tuesday for Pyongyang to send a delegation to the Winter Olympics, Fox News reported.
First lady Melania Trump is currently not scheduled to attend, the report said.
Former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, led the Obama administration’s first Olympic delegation to the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.
Source: Pence to lead US delegation in South Korea for Winter Olympics
