Trump, Putin had second, undisclosed meeting during G-20

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 18 July 2017

President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had their first, highly anticipated face-to-face meeting earlier this month at the G-20 summit, but they also had a second, previously undisclosed meeting later that day during a dinner, a White House official confirmed to NBC News Tuesday.

The official said the pair spoke during a couples-only social dinner in Hamburg; in the middle of the meal, Trump left his seat to sit down next to Putin, The Washington Post reports. Ian Bremmer, president of the international consulting firm Eurasia Group, first reported on the meeting, and said he was told by people at the dinner it lasted an hour and was also attended by Putin's translator. Bremmer also said diners could see Trump and Putin talking to each other, but couldn't hear anything. The White House never announced this meeting took place, and The New York Times reports there is no U.S. government record of it.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.