Donald Trump meets Vladimir Putin at the opening of the G20 summit on July 7, 2017 in Hamburg, Germany.
Steffen Kugler /BPA via Getty Images
Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on a second, undisclosed, occasion during this month's G20 summit in Germany, it has been confirmed.
A White House official acknowledged the fact on Tuesday, The Guardian reports. The meeting was described as "informal." Details of the second meeting were confirmed after Ian Bremmer, the president of the international consulting firm Eurasia Group, announced it following concerns from friends he had informed after the event.
Bremmer said there was a dinner on July 7 for the G20 heads of state and their spouses. “Donald Trump got up from the table and sat down with Putin for about an hour," he is quoted as saying. "It was very animated and very friendly. Putin’s translator was translating. I found out about it because people were startled.”
Trump was not joined in the conversation by his own translator, which is thought to be a breach of national security protocol.
The President has already tweeted about this second G20 meeting with Putin, describing the reports as "sick" and claiming that the press knew all along. Technically it is true that the press knew about the dinner where this happened, though the private conversation was reported scarcely.
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!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 19, 2017
The Fake News is becoming more and more dishonest! Even a dinner arranged for top 20 leaders in Germany is made to look sinister!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 19, 2017