President Clinton was looking forward to "getting a firsthand account" from Senator George Mitchell of where the review of the peace process in Northern Ireland stands, according to a White House spokesman.
At a press briefing several hours before Senator Mitchell arrived in Washington, Mr Joe Lockhart said Senator Mitchell was coming to brief the President "in anticipation of the talks resuming next week".
It now looks unlikely that the President will be able to meet Mr David Trimble, when he comes to Washington for meetings today and tomorrow.
Mr Trimble is to meet Mr Jim Steinberg, the President's adviser on the North, but there was a possibility Mr Clinton would "drop by". The President will, however, be travelling in the US during Mr Trimble's visit to Washington.
The spokesman said "the fact that he [the President] will not be here should not be read as any demonstration of not wanting to see him [Mr Trimble]. The schedule works against it."
Earlier, Senator Mitchell spelt out his eagerness to complete his review of the Belfast Agreement "as soon as possible" after holding talks with Mr Tony Blair, at Downing Street.
As he prepared to travel to Washington, Senator Mitchell was careful to point out he had not set a specific date for the completion of the review or his expected report on nine weeks of talks with the parties, but said he had "made no secret of the fact that I would like to complete this as soon as possible".
Senator Mitchell is expected to wind up the review towards the end of next week after he returns to Belfast on Sunday and resumes official contact with the parties on Monday. After an hour of talks with Mr Blair, however, he emerged from Downing Street saying: "I will not impose any specific date as the deadline, I am going to do the best I can.
"I have asked for an assessment which I believe is essential for the completion of the review."
That was a reference to his request in a statement on Tuesday, after he suspended the review in Belfast, in which he asked Gen John de Chastelain's independent international commission on decommissioning for a report on its assessment of the prospects of paramilitary decommissioning since two of the three agreed principles of his review related to decommissioning.
After the meeting, Mr Blair's spokesman insisted Senator Mitchell remained "very much in the driving seat" and the British government intended it "to stay that way at the moment".