President Trump casually told Russian President Vladimir Putin not to meddle in the 2020 election during a bilateral meeting at the G-20 summit in Japan on Friday.
A reporter asked Trump whether he would tell Putin not to interfere in the next election cycle.
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“Yes, of course I will,” Trump said, turning to Putin and the Russian delegation.
“Don’t meddle in the election, president,” he said with a slight grin before pointing and repeating, “Don’t meddle in the election.”
.@FreddieTunnard asks President Trump if he would tell Russia not to meddle in the 2020 US presidential election.
As President Putin, Sec. Pompeo and others smile, President Trump turns to the Russian delegation, points and tells them not to meddle in the election. pic.twitter.com/KWdRf9hnWc
— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) June 28, 2019
Putin laughed when he heard the translation.
It was their first meeting since special counsel Robert Mueller’s report came out.
Touting what the pair planned to discuss, Trump also said, “It’s a great honor to be with President Putin” and “a lot of very positive things are going to come out of the relationship.”
Although Putin has dismissed accusations of Russian interference in the 2016 election, both Mueller and the members of the U.S. intelligence community found that the Russian government did seek to influence the presidential contest in favor of Trump.
