Russia and Putin · First term · № 31
Held an undisclosed second conversation with Putin in Hamburg with no U.S. interpreter or staff
“So the meal was going, and toward dessert I went down just to say hello to Melania, and while I was there I said hello to Putin. Really, pleasantries more than anything else. It was not a long conversation, but it was, you know, could be 15 minutes.”
- Said
- , G20 summit, Hamburg, Germany (quote from New York Times interview, July 19, 2017)
- Subject
- Hamburg G20 meetings
- Type
- Intelligence and security
- Topic
- Foreign policy
- Era
- First term
What happened
Hours after a formal meeting of more than two hours on July 7, 2017, Trump spoke privately with Putin at a dinner for G20 leaders, relying on Russia's interpreter. The White House confirmed the conversation on July 18 after it was reported, said no staff had been present, and called the suggestion that it had tried to hide a second meeting 'false, malicious and absurd'. Ian Bremmer of the Eurasia Group, who first described the encounter, said it lasted about an hour; Trump said about 15 minutes and that they discussed adoption. In January 2019 The Washington Post reported, citing current and former U.S. officials, that after the formal Hamburg meeting Trump took possession of his interpreter's notes and told the interpreter not to discuss the meeting with other officials. Trump responded that he was 'not keeping anything under wraps', and a White House spokesman said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had given a full readout of the Hamburg meeting to officials and the press.
Sources
- Interview with Peter Baker of The New York Times
- Trump had second, undisclosed conversation with Putin at G20 summit
- Trump Spins Putin Dinner Conversation
- Trump has concealed details of his face-to-face encounters with Putin from senior officials in administration
- Washington Post: Trump concealed details from meetings with Putin