Updated at 7:16 p.m. ET
When President Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin went for more than two hours, well past the scheduled half-hour, it was a major news event. But it turns out that wasn’t even the end of the conversation between the two men.
Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, first reported the second meeting Tuesday. Other outlets also reported the news, and the White House confirmed it to Reuters. (BuzzFeed journalist Alberto Nardelli had previously reported about a meeting.) Trump reportedly met with the Russian leader for an additional hour of informal chats after a dinner of G20 leaders—though the White House in a statement reported late Tuesday by NBC’s Hallie Jackson called the encounter “brief” and denied it constituted a second meeting. While the first meeting was small—the only attendees were Trump, Putin, the Russian foreign minister, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and one interpreter from each country—this was even smaller: just Trump, Putin, and a Russian interpreter. Trump did not have his own interpreter.
Trump’s meeting with Putin was notable because of Russian interference in the U.S. election and because of allegations, currently being investigated by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, that the Trump campaign may have colluded with Russians to influence the outcome of the race. During the campaign, Trump made unusually flattering statements about the Russian leader, from comparing his leadership favorably to Barack Obama’s to condoning the annexation of Crimea to pleading with Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails (a request aides said was made in jest).