HIDDEN

White House: Trump, Putin Had Second Undisclosed Meeting

The meeting reportedly lasted for an hour and Putin’s translator joined the leaders.

President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a second undisclosed meeting at the G-20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, earlier this month, the White House confirmed Tuesday to The Daily Beast. The conversation reportedly occurred at the dinner for heads of state, hours after the two leaders’ formal bilateral meeting. It reportedly lasted for an hour and Putin’s translator was the only other person present. The second meeting was first reported by global affairs analyst Ian Bremmer, the president of Eurasia Group. In a statement later Tuesday, the White House pushed back on the characterization of the meeting in media reports. “There was no ‘second meeting’ between President Trump and President Putin, just a brief conversation at the end of a dinner. The insinuation that the White House has tried to ‘hide’ a second meeting is false, malicious and absurd,” the statement reads, adding it is “perfectly normal” and “part of a president’s duties” to hold these types of conversations. Trump himself responded to the reports, writing on Twitter: “Fake News story of secret dinner with Putin is ‘sick.’ All G 20 leaders, and spouses, were invited by the Chancellor of Germany. Press knew!”