Trump accused of concealing content of conversation with Putin
Trump is said to have confiscated an interpreter's notes and banned him from revealing his conversations with Russian President Putin.
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US President Donald Trump (right) and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during a meeting in Hamburg, Germany, in July 2017. Photo:Reuters |
Washington PostOn January 12, US officials were quoted as saying that they currently do not have detailed records of the content of five private meetings between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
The US newspaper said that the White House boss went to "extraordinary efforts" to keep his discussions with his Russian counterpart secret. Current and former US officials said President Trump even confiscated an interpreter's notes about his meeting with President Putin and did not allow the interpreter to discuss the details of the meeting with other government officials.
The practice was discovered after the Trump-Putin meeting in Hamburg, Germany, in 2017, which was attended by then-US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. A White House adviser and a senior US State Department official sought information from the interpreter in addition to the information shared by Secretary Tillerson but only received a shake of the head.
According toWashington PostTrump's actions are unusual compared to previous presidents, especially when they are being investigated by US prosecutors for possible collusion between Trump's campaign and Russia to interfere in the 2016 election results.
Responding to the article, Trump insisted he was "not hiding anything." "I don't care. I mean, it's ridiculous, they made it up," the US President said in an interview.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders called the report that President Trump concealed the content of his meeting with President Putin "extremely inaccurate," adding that Trump has taken a tougher stance on Russia than his predecessors.
