U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a second, previously-undisclosed meeting at the G20 summit.
The meeting came on the same day of their first official meeting at the summit in Hamburg, Germany earlier this month.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer confirmed the meeting on Tuesday, saying the two met during the world leaders’ dinner.
The two spoke for an hour, the New York Times reported.
“Pretty much everyone at the dinner thought this was really weird,” Ian Bremner, president of the Eurasia group, told the Times.
“Here is the president of the United States, who clearly wants to display that he has a better relationship personally with President Putin than any of us, or simply doesn’t care.”
The second meeting at dinner was only between Trump, Putin and Putin’s translator. Trump’s translator wasn’t present, which is a breach of national security protocol, Bremmer told The Hill.
In a statement released by the White House, officials explained the meeting by saying each couple who was invited to the dinner was only allowed to bring one translator.
As Trump was seated next to the wife of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the translator he brought spoke Japanese and not Russian.
Melania Trump was seated next to Putin, the statement read.
“As the dinner was concluding, President Trump went over to Mrs. Trump, where he spoke briefly with President Putin,” it said. “The two leaders used the Russian translator, since the American translator did not speak Russian.
“The insinuation that the White House has tried to ‘hide’ a second meeting is false, malicious and absurd.”
WATCH: With Republicans’ plan to “repeal and replace” Obamacare dead, their attempt just to “repeal” the nation’s health care law is now in trouble, too.
Trump himself commented saying on Twitter using his familiar insult “fake news” and that the press knew about the dinner.
But Bremmer, who first broke the story, fought back saying the press didn’t know about the one-on-one conversation.
Trump’s campaign is still under scrutiny for its alleged Russian ties from both the Senate and the House Investigation Committee.
Most recently, a meeting between Donald Trump Jr., a Russian lawyer and others at Trump Tower has been under the microscope.
-
![]()
Ex-soviet spy confirm he attended meeting with Trump Jr. at request of Russian lawyer -
![]()
‘Morning Joe’ hosts believe Trump Jr. email release attempt to ‘confuse truth with lies’ -
![]()
Donald Trump Jr. calls attempt to receive Clinton ‘dirt’ from Russian lawyer ‘opposition research’ -
![]()
Emails from Trump Jr. reveal collusion with Russia -
![]()
Rep. Adam Schiff comments on Trump Jr. email exchange on Russian meeting -
![]()
U.S. Senate intel panel reacts to Trump Jr. emails -
![]()
Is Donald Trump Jr. becoming a liability? -
![]()
Did Trump Jr. give proof of Russian collusion with the Trump Campaign?
The first meeting between Trump and Putin was scheduled to be 30 minutes long, but it lasted for around two hours.
Topics ranged from a ceasefire in Syria to a cybersecurity unit that would protect against election hacking.
Trump also said he raised allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
No details were given on what the leaders talked about during the dinnertime meeting.
WATCH: Trump says he talked joint cybersecurity unit with Putin
Comments