WASHINGTON, April 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Monday defended the decision to keep White House visitor logs secret, but did not bring up the national security explanation.

Instead, he criticized the practice to release visitor logs under former President Barack Obama administration as a "faux attempt" at transparency.

The decision, announced on Friday, is just a return to earlier precedent before Obama-era, said Spicer.

"It's the same policy that every administration had up until the Obama administration," Spicer said at the White House daily briefing.

"And frankly, the faux attempt that the Obama administration put out, where they would scrub who they didn't want put out, didn't serve anyone well." he said.

"The president wants to make sure that people can come, in the same way they can go into members of Congress' office, provide information and details," said Spicer, "We recognize that there's a privacy aspect to allowing citizens to come express their views."

Earlier, White House communications director Michael Dubke said the move would protect the U.S. national security interests as well as the privacy of those visiting the Trump administration.

Under the Obama administration, the White House released logs listing nearly six million visitors. No apparent national security concerns have been reported, according to a thePolitico report.