The White House has said Donald Trump "weighed in" on the misleading statement issued by his son, Donald Trump Jr, about his controversial meeting with a Russian lawyer.
"The President weighed in as any father would, based on the limited information he had," White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, adding that Mr Trump "certainly didn't dictate" his son's statement, but did offer suggestions.
The comments came after the Washington Post reported that Mr Trump had dictated the statement, citing anonymous sources with knowledge of the deliberations.
The statement has drawn scrutiny in recent weeks, as more information regarding the June 2016 meeting has come to light.
Mr Trump Jr described the meeting in his initial statement as a "a short introductory meeting" in which the attendees primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children.
"It was not a campaign issue at the time and there was no follow up," Mr Trump Jr said.
Days later, however, Mr Trump Jr released emails showing that he had been promised incriminating information on Hillary Clinton, as part of a Russian government effort to support his father's campaign.
According to the Post, White House advisers had initially intended to release a full, truthful statement on the meeting. Hours later, however, Mr Trump allegedly weighed in, and dictated the heavily edited statement that was eventually given to the press.
"This was . . . unnecessary," one of the president's advisers told thePost. "Now someone can claim he's the one who attempted to mislead. Somebody can argue the president is saying he doesn't want you to say the whole truth."
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