Donald Jr. is apparently not the only Trump with selective memory of meetings with Russians.
In addition to the formal meeting between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, earlier this month, the two leaders held a separate, private conversation that has not been previously disclosed and did not include the Secretary of State, the National Security Advisor or other American officials.
After being confronted with the report, the White House official confirmed on the story and said the brief one hour meeting was just after dessert talk.
The administration’s acknowledgment of the second informal meeting comes after Ian Bremmer, the president of political risk consulting firm Eurasia Group, first reported the meeting in a note to clients, according to Reuters.
The wire service writes:
“Television coverage of the dinner showed that first lady Melania Trump was seated next to Putin.
“Bremmer said Trump got up from his seat halfway through dinner and spent about an hour talking ‘privately and animatedly’ with Putin, ‘joined only by Putin’s own translator.’
“The lack of a U.S. translator raised eyebrows among other leaders at the dinner, said Bremmer, who called it a ‘breach of national security protocol.’ ”
Speaking on background, a White House official denied that there was a “second meeting,” saying it was only a “brief conversation at the end of dinner. The insinuation that the White House has tried to ‘hide’ a second meeting is false, malicious and absurd,” the official said.