Published 15:21 IST, October 18th 2019
Parents of teen killed in UK car crash call Trump meeting an 'ambush'
The parents grieved their loss of their 19-year-old son in a car crash and their time at the White House was more of an ambush in which they were frightened.
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US President Donald Trump said on October 16 that his widely condemned meeting with the parents of British teen Harry Dunn was beautiful. The parents grieved their loss of their son in a car crash and their time at the White House was more of an ambush in which they were frightened, according to the spokesperson, Radd Seiger. Seiger said its a very sad moment for us as he recalled the Tuesday's controversial meeting between Dunn's parents and Trump. After Trump offered condolences, Seiger quicky said that Anne Sacoolas, an American woman whose car struck their son, whom the British police say was willing to meet was in the next room. Seiger said that he explained to Trump that the circumstances were not appropriate. He added that if it is happening then Sacoolas have to go all the way to England and face trials in the British courts.
Teenager killed in August
Dunn, a 19-year-old boy was killed in August when his motorbike was struck by a car that police say was driven by Sacoolas, 42. She has also clarified that she was driving on the wrong side of the road at the time of the accident. Sacoolas is the wife of the US government official who claimed diplomatic immunity under international law and returned to the States after a few weeks. Harry Dunn's parents, Tim Dunn and Charlotte Charles said that the meeting took their breath away. Trump proposed the idea of meeting with Sacoolas there and then which was so unplanned and pressure on both of them. Trump said on Wednesday that the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked him to set up the meeting. A spokesperson of Johnson said that the PM and the President spoke last Wednesday and the PM asked the President to do whatever he could to resolve the matter. The parents said that during the meeting the President raised the possibility of a meeting with Anne Sacoolas at the White House but at that stage, they weren't aware of the situation.
White House spokesperson defends President
A White House spokesperson Hogan Gidley defended the president's actions. Gidley said that Trump wasn't trying to ambush anybody and also reiterated Trump's claim that the meeting took place at the behest of Boris Johnson. Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn have long expressed a desire to meet with Sacoolas but under certain conditions that the meeting would take place on British soil with trained mental health experts from both sides. Dunn's parents said Trump asked them frequently during the meeting if they would meet with Sacoolas even though they had already declined the offer.
12:18 IST, October 18th 2019