The
White House said Mr Trump and Mr Putin had attended a dinner with G20 leaders
at the recent Hamburg summit. After the meal, Mr Trump had walked over to the
Russian leader for a conversation not previously disclosed. But Ian Bremmer,
president of political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, said Mr Trump had left
his seat during the meal and spent about an hour talking "privately and
animatedly" with Mr Putin. Mr Bremmer was the first to report what he
described as a meeting in a note to clients. The White House has disputed it,
saying: "There was no 'second meeting' between President Trump and
President Putin, just a brief conversation at the end of a dinner."
Mr
Trump wrote on Twitter: "Fake News story of secret dinner with Putin is
sick. All G20 leaders, and spouses, were invited by the Chancellor of Germany.
Press knew!"Mr Bremmer replied to him: "Press didn't know you spent
an hour during dinner in 1-1 discussion with Putin (and his translator). Other
G20 leaders found it...unusual.
Mr
Putin's translator was the only other person present during the conversation
between the pair but there was no translator for Mr Trump, something Mr Bremmer
described as a "breach of national security protocol". An unnamed
White House official said that both men used the Russian translator as Mr
Trump's translator did not speak Russian. The G20 leaders had only been allowed
to have one translator attend the dinner with them, the official said, adding
that, because Mr Trump had been sitting next to the wife of Japan's Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe at dinner, his translator was for Japanese. The US
and Russian Presidents met for the first time on 7 July and, during their
two-hour meeting, Mr Putin reportedly denied allegations that he had been
behind efforts to meddle in last year's presidential election. The
news comes amid a number of investigations into the possible Russian
interference and also whether the Trump campaign team were linked to the
activity. Mr Trump has denied this.
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