By Associated Press - Tuesday, March 7, 2017

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest news on the Trump administration (all times local):

9:45 a.m.

President Donald Trump greeted the first wave of tourists to come through the White House since he assumed office.

Trump welcomed a small crowd of visitors in the East Wing Tuesday, waving from behind a velvet rope as the crowd screamed, cheered and took photos.

The president then pulled Jack Cornish, 10, from Birmingham, Ala., from the crowd and hugged him as the visitors and journalists looked on.

The White House has been closed for tours since inauguration day.

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8:35 a.m.

President Donald Trump says that Russia “ran over” President Barack Obama for years, calling it “weak!”

Trump tweeted Tuesday that “For eight years Russia ’ran over’ President Obama, got stronger and stronger, picked-off Crimea and added missiles. Weak!”

He added the Twitter handle of “Fox & Friends” at the end - a show he has frequently cited as one of his favorites.

Trump’s latest criticism against his predecessor comes as senior members of his administration face questions about their contact with the Russian government.

This weekend, Trump used Twitter to accuse Obama of ordering wiretaps on his phones but offered no proof to back the claim.

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7:35 a.m.

President Donald Trump says “122 vicious prisoners” released by the Obama administration from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba “have returned to the battlefield.”

Trump didn’t cite where he got the statistic in his Tuesday tweet, calling their release, “another terrible decision!”

On Monday, U.S. airstrikes against an al-Qaida-linked group in Yemen killed a former detainee who was released from the prison in 2009 despite earlier recommendations that he remain in custody because he was considered a “high threat” to America and its allies.

At its peak, the Guantanamo prison held nearly 680 detainees. It was down to 242 when President Barack Obama took office in 2009 and he got that number down to just a few dozen. Obama called the prison was a waste of money and a recruiting tool for extremists.

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