White House press secretary backtracks minutes after suggesting US could skip 2018 Olympics, says US 'looks forward to participating'

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

Sarah Huckabee Sanders

• White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday said "no official decision" had been made on whether the US would attend the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
• The comments came after US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said it was an "open question" whether the US would attend out of safety concerns.
• Sanders, however, clarified moments after the press briefing that the US "looks forward to participating" in the 2018 Olympics.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Thursday clarified that the US "looks forward to participating" in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, minutes after suggesting the issue was still up for discussion.

"UPDATE: The U.S. looks forward to participating in the Winter Olympics in South Korea. The protection of Americans is our top priority and we are engaged with the South Koreans and other partner nations to secure the venues," Sanders said on Twitter.

During a press briefing minutes earlier Thursday, Sanders said "no official decision" had been made on whether the US delegation would go to Pyeongchang.

The comments came after US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Tuesday told Fox News that it was an "open question" whether the US would attend the 2018 Olympics.

"I think those are conversations we are going to have to have, but what have we always said? We don't ever fear anything, we live our lives," Haley said.

She later added: ""There's an open question. I have not heard anything about that, but I do know in the talks that we have - whether it's Jerusalem or North Korea - it's about, how do we protect the US citizens in the area?"

Mark Jones, a spokesman for the US Olympic Committee, said after Haley's comments that the USOC fully intended on sending a full delegation to the Olympics and Paralympics.

"We have not had any discussions, either internally or with our government partners, about the possibility of not taking teams to the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games," Jones said in a statement. "We plan on supporting two full delegations in Pyeongchang."