Trump says media misrepresented G-20 dinner conversation with Putin
WASHINGTON- President Donald Trump in a series of Tuesday evening Tweets accused media outlets of portraying in a “sinister” manner a semi-private dinner conversation he had had last week at the G-20 Hamburg summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
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https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/887477071160762369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.talkmedianews.com%2Fcongress%2F2017%2F07%2F19%2Ftrump-says-media-misrepresented-private-g-20-talk-with-putin%2F
Trump’s tweets followed reports by CNN and other news outlets stating that he and Putin spoke separately but in close proximity to other summit leaders for about an hour on July 7. The two spoke behind closed doors earlier that day.
Trump was the only member of his administration present for the dinner conversation. He and Putin conversed. Putin’s translator was present. CNN reported that Trump relied on Putin’s translator.
The White House in a Tuesday evening statement said the private dinner conversation was strictly informal.
“There was no ‘second meeting’ between President Trump and President Putin, just a brief conversation at the end of a dinner,” the statement said. “The insinuation that the White House has tried to ‘hide’ a second meeting is false, malicious and absurd.”
Congressional committees in both chambers are investigating Russia’s attempt to manipulate the outcome of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election as well as allegations of collusion between members of the Trump campaign and high-ranking Russian officials.
Independent Counsel Robert Mueller III also is investigation the collusion allegations.
Two Democratic senators told TMN Wednesday that they were disturbed by news of the semi-private Trump-Putin dinner conversation.
“I just continue to be so frightened by that relationship,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy (Vt.).
“I’d be a lot happier if I saw Mr. Trump develop a relationship with our real partners-our NATO partners-rather than somebody who’s going to be constantly working against the United States,” Leahy added.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (Ohio) said the meeting was cause for concern because: “Putin goes in with years of experience and Trump doesn’t have much depth in foreign policy.”
Brown also said he found the meeting disconcerting because: “there was no U.S. translator there and it was offensive to our (America’s) allies.”
Bryan is an award-winning political journalist who has extensive experience covering Congress and Maryland state government.
His work includes coverage of the election of Donald Trump, the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and attorneys general William Barr and Jeff Sessions-as well as that of the Maryland General Assembly, Gov. Larry Hogan, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bryan has broken stories involving athletic and sexual assault scandals with the Baltimore Post-Examiner.
His original UMBC investigation gained international attention, was featured in People Magazine and he was interviewed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” and local radio stations. Bryan broke subsequent stories documenting UMBC’s omission of a sexual assault on their daily crime log and a federal investigation related to the university’s handling of an alleged sexual assault.