After President Trump and President Putin ended their marathon discussion on Friday, it was Russia — not the United States — that provided the press an account of the meeting.
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov told reporters Friday that Trump accepted Putin’s denial of meddling in the U.S. election.
This revelation was not exactly surprising. For months, Trump has tried to distance Russia from the election hacking, telling the American people that anyone could have been behind the theft of Democratic Party emails.
Later Friday, however, CNN journalist Jim Acosta reported that Trump did not actually accept Putin’s claim, citing a senior administration official who was familiar with the meeting.
Senior admin official tells me POTUS did not accept Putin claim of non-interference in last year's election.
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) July 7, 2017
Because Trump did not hold a press conference like other world leaders did at the G-20 summit, Americans back at home were left wondering what actually went down in the long-awaited meeting.
On Saturday, the final day of the summit, officials in the Trump administration finally talked to reporters about what they did and did not accomplish this week.
Gen. H.R. McMaster, Trump’s national security adviser, was incredibly candid about his bosses meeting with Putin.
Some #truthtelling from McMaster? "No problems were solved" in Trump-Putin meeting, he says during AF1 gaggle
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) July 8, 2017
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, on the other hand, offered a more upbeat version of the talk.
Mnuchin says Trump "handled brilliantly" the election mettling issue in Putin bilat. Doesn't explain how, and Mnuchin wasn't in the meeting.
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) July 8, 2017
Mnuchin offered few details as to why he was so optimistic after the meeting. The Treasury secretary would not deny Russia’s claim that Trump agreed with Putin on his denial of election meddling.
Mnuchin, not denying Putin's claim that Trump "agreed" with his denial of meddling, says Trump will "be happy to make statements himself."
— Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) July 8, 2017
Mnuchin and McMaster were not part of the Trump-Putin meeting themselves, but their inability to refute Russia’s claims suggest they have knowledge that Trump accepted Putin’s denial of any wrongdoing.
