President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin could next meet in Washington as early as this fall, after White House press secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed on Thursday that plans are already in motion to extend an invitation.
“In Helsinki, @POTUS agreed to ongoing working level dialogue between the two security council staffs,” Sanders wrote on Twitter.
“President Trump asked @Ambjohnbolton to invite President Putin to Washington in the fall and those discussions are already underway,” she continued, referring to national security adviser John Bolton.
[More: US intel chief Dan Coats wishes Trump hadn’t met Putin alone]
In Helsinki, @POTUS agreed to ongoing working level dialogue between the two security council staffs. President Trump asked @Ambjohnbolton to invite President Putin to Washington in the fall and those discussions are already underway.
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) July 19, 2018
Sanders’ confirmation follows a tweet from Trump on Thursday morning. saying he was looking forward to the leaders’ next series of discussions after their controversial meetings in Helsinki.
“The Summit with Russia was a great success, except with the real enemy of the people, the Fake News Media. I look forward to our second meeting so that we can start implementing some of the many things discussed,” Trump wrote.
Trump received bipartisan condemnations on Monday for comments he made during a press conference with Putin at the conclusion of their summit, in which he dismissed Russian interference in the 2016 election. The remarks have been criticized as they appear to undermine U.S. intelligence community assessments that indicate Kremlin-linked operatives meddled in the American political process in 2016.
Trump and the White House have since tried to clarify his statements, repeating that the president trusts his intelligence officials.
