Politics

Watch: White House briefs the media as Manafort trial presses on

[The stream is slated to start at 1 p.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.]

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is scheduled to face reporters Thursday, as the trial of President Donald Trump's former campaign chief Paul Manafort presses on.

Special counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing Russia probe also continues to provoke rage from the president.

According to The New York Times, Trump wants a sit-down interview with Mueller's team. Trump believes he can convince prosecutors that the probe of potential coordination between Trump's campaign and the Kremlin is a "witch hunt," according to the report.

On Wednesday, Trump made perhaps his most direct call yet for the investigation to be hastened to a close, saying that Attorney General Jeff Sessions "should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now."

Trump tweet 2

Sessions had already recused himself from any matters related to federal investigations of Russian election meddling.

At the White House briefing on Wednesday, Sanders said the tweet was only Trump's opinion, and was not an order.