Parents of Otto Warmbier to have dinner at the White House

The parents of Otto Warmbier, Fred and Cindy Warmbier, are scheduled to have dinner at the White House with President Trump and U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell on Saturday night, CNN reported.

Warmbier was an American college student who was detained for 17 months in North Korea on charges of espionage. He was returned to the U.S. in a comatose state in 2017 and died not long after.

It was not immediately known how Saturday’s dinner was organized or if anyone else would attend.

Grenell, a possible replacement for the national security adviser position after John Bolton’s ouster this week, has been in Washington for the past few days, according to CNN. But this dinner was arranged before Bolton’s firing.

Grenell met with the Warmbiers when they came to Germany in August. He posted a picture of himself and his mother with Cindy Warmbier on Instagram.

“Today I introduced Otto Warmbier’s mother Cindy to my mom, Judi. Cindy is focused on bringing some justice to her family – and we are ready to help,” Grenell wrote for his caption.

Trump has publicly said he does not hold Kim Jong Un’s regime responsible for Warmbier’s death, which he stated after his second summit with Kim in Hanoi, Vietnam, in February.

The Warmbiers, however, rejected Trump’s claim.

“We have been respectful during this summit process,” the Warmbiers said. “Now we must speak out. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for the death of our son Otto. Kim and his evil regime are responsible for unimaginable cruelty and inhumanity. No excuses or lavish praise can change that. Thank you.”