President Trump Donald John TrumpPruitt put ally in charge of EPA office overseeing key records requests: report Scotland wind farm opposed by Trump generates first power Trump: Supreme Court pick will be a 'home run' MORE is planning on meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin alone later this month, a source told CNN.
More aides are expected to join the two world leaders later in the meeting, which is expected to cover election interference , Syria and nuclear weapons.
CNN noted that without other aides present, that part of the meeting will be without an official record — making it difficult to conclude whether they reached any agreements.
The two leaders will meet in Helsinki on July 16. The meeting will be the first formal summit between Trump and Putin.
Trump and Putin held a bilateral meeting at the Group of 20 summit last year, with then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Rex Wayne TillersonTrump planning one-on-one meeting with Putin without aides present: report McMaster to join Hoover Institution, take on 'infected' national security discourse Top US envoy for East Asia to retire this month MORE, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and two interpreters joining them.
The presidents also spoke for about an hour alone during a dinner at the summit last year, with Trump relying on the Russian leader's translator.
Trump also met alone with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for part of their summit last month, also with only interpreters present.
wjbc on July 4th, 2018 at 12:56 UTC »
Did you notice how the Senate Intel committee released its conclusion with minimal fanfare on the eve of a national holiday, hoping no one would notice? And God forbid they should actually restrain the President. Even in the Senate, partisanship trumps patriotism.
Spacedman-Spliff on July 4th, 2018 at 11:38 UTC »
Unless the meeting is taking place in the Russian or American embassy, you can almost guarantee a third-party will have it bugged. Shit, it's a OPSEC issue just having the two of them meet in a third-party country.
JeepDispenser on July 4th, 2018 at 10:56 UTC »
I can’t believe I’m saying this but I hope our intelligence is all over this and has bugged his lapel or something.