White House, May 10, 2017– President Donald Trump on Wednesday commented on his firing of FBI Director James Comey after holding an unannounced meeting with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger…

Trump told reporters that he had a “very, very good meeting” with Lavrov. He declared that both Washington and Moscow want to end “the killing – the horrible, horrible killing in Syria as soon as possible,” and that “everybody is working toward that end.”

A White House statement additionally said Trump communicated to Lavrov the need for Russia to “rein in” Syrian President Bashar Assad and his ally, Iran. Notably, Russia, Iran and Turkey last week agreed to establish “de-escalation zones” in the war-torn country…

Trump’s meeting with Kissinger, meanwhile, was a surprise, as it was not on the president’s public schedule for Wednesday. Trump said he discussed Syria and Russia with former President Richard Nixon’s national security adviser and secretary of state.
We’re talking about Syria and I think that we’re going to do very well with respect to Syria and things are happening that are really, really, really positive,” Trump said. “We’re going to stop the killing and the death.”

Trump said it was an “honor” to speak with Kissinger and that they had been friends for a long time, though Kissinger, a Republican, declined to endorse a candidate during the presidential campaign and was positively cited by Trump rival Hillary Clinton in a moment that drew criticism from Clinton’s own rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Kissinger has previously been present during the Trump administration’s first months, dining with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and defending the former business chief’s low visibility early in his tenure.

“The normal tendency when you come into that job is to increase your visibility and to show that you are present and in charge,” Kissinger told The New York Times. “He wanted to first inform himself of all the nuances. I was impressed by the confidence and self-assurance that he showed.”