White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, a devout Catholic, couldn't wait to meet Pope Francis alongside President Trump on Wednesday, a source "close to the White House" told CNN. "That's all he wanted," the insider said.
But when the big day finally arrived, Spicer wasn't invited. Trump had everyone from his wife Melania Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, his National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, his communications adviser Hope Hicks, his former bodyguard Keith Schiller, and his social media director Dan Scavino by his side — but Spicer was apparently told "there wasn't room for him on the roster."
The White House insider told CNN this should "'very much' be seen as a slight." The two times that former President Barack Obama visited the Vatican, his press secretaries were in attendance. Spicer additionally hasn't been seen at some top-level meetings, amid reports that Trump is considering nixing his daily on-camera White House briefings.
A White House official insisted the Vatican was just "strict" about how many people could attend and insisted a "very small delegation" joined Trump.