The family says trump surprised them with the news that Ann Sacolas, the wife of an American diplomat stationed in Britain, was in the next room. The photographers were waiting in the wings, said a family spokesman, who described the encounter as an ambush.

UK police said Sakoulas claimed diplomatic immunity after the crash that killed 19-time-old Harry Dunn and left the country three weeks later. Through her lawyer, she apologized for the ” tragic mistake.” Police say their investigation is not yet complete.

Dunn’s parents are in the US this week to make the case that the Sacoolas should be returned to the UK to face justice, and met with trump at the White house on Tuesday.

“President trump came out as a very warm, attractive guy, he makes you feel really special,” Rudd Seiger, a spokesman for the family, told CNN. “But as soon as the pleasantries were over and we sat down, he said,” Let’s move on to the chase. You want to meet Mrs. Sacolas. I can do it.”

“She was next door. It was a shock, ” he added.

Charlotte Charles, Dunn’s mother, told Britain’s Sky News that the family had turned down an offer to meet Sacolas at the White house because the family wanted to meet on “their own terms” and “on UK soil.”

Trump said Wednesday that he met with the family at the request of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He described the meeting as” beautiful in a sense “and that he” expressed condolences on behalf of our country ” during the meeting.

“I offered to bring this person in, and they weren’t ready for it,” trump said during a meeting in the oval office on Wednesday.

Seiger responded to trump’s comments with a fiery statement in which he characterized the meeting as “a stunt to make President trump look good” and suggested that the surprise offer to meet Dunn was a false choice.

“It’s not up to them. From the beginning, the family said that Ann Sacolas should return to the UK to meet music. Never changed in their position, ” the statement said.

“We are very angry, this family feels that it has been taken advantage of, that they have become a pawn in a wider political game,” he also said.

Dunn died on August 27 outside a base controlled by the US air force in Central England after his motorcycle was hit by a car driven by Sacoolas.

Earlier on Tuesday, her lawyer Amy Jeffress issued a statement expressing remorse for the tragedy. “Anna was driving on the wrong side of the road and terribly, terribly sorry for the tragic mistake. Neither she nor Harry Dunn’s family will ever be the same because of this. She wants to meet with the family to apologize and take responsibility.”

Jeffress says her client met with police twice – on the day of the incident and at his home the next day. After providing a statement at the scene and meeting with officers the next day, she had no further contact with police, Jeffress said. “She and her family left the United Kingdom about three weeks after the accident, after they and US authorities decided it would be difficult for the couple and their children to remain in the small community of Crawton under these tragic circumstances,” the lawyer said.

“We understand that the British authorities were informed and made aware of their departure before they returned to the United States,” Jeffress added.

A spokesman for the seiger family said the meeting with trump appeared to have been arranged. After the family declined to meet Sacolas, Seiger said he noticed a Bank of photographers who seemed positioned to capture the dramatic moment. “Obviously they were looking to get a photo of the President introducing Ms. Sacoolas to Harry’s parents,” Seiger said.

In a separate interview with the BBC, seiger said the meeting was like a setup. “I think the family feels a bit ambushed to say the least,” he added.

Seeger told CNN that the family believes that trump has called a meeting for personal gain. “We feel a little numb. There was no real progress other than at the end the President said he would look at it from a different angle, ” seiger said. “Thinking about it this morning, I think Charlotte and Tim realize that the President was only doing it for himself.”

The family claims that trump did not promise to return Sacolas to the UK.

Under the 1961 Vienna Convention, diplomats and their family members generally do not have immunity from prosecution in the host country. The US state Department told CNN on Saturday that diplomatic immunity is “rarely revoked.”

However, British foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a letter written to Dunn’s family that Sakoulas ‘ diplomatic immunity was “no longer appropriate.”

“We strongly insisted on waiving immunity so that justice would prevail… While the U.S. government has steadfastly refused to give this waiver, this is not the end of this matter, ” Raab said in the letter, which cnn will be contacted with.

“The UK government’s position is that immunity, and therefore any question of waiver, is no longer relevant in the case of MS Sakoulas because she has returned home,” he wrote.

Cnn’s Shams Elwazer, johnny Hallam, Angela Dewan, Stephanie Halasz, Anna Stewart, Tara John, Arno Siad and Samantha Tapfumaneyi contributed to this report.

Si-Sin-Wire™

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