A one-of-a-kind signed photo of President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin warmly clutching each other at their controversial 2018 Helsinki summit, where Trump sided with the Kremlin over his own intelligence agencies on interference in the 2016 election, is up for auction.
The July 14-15 online sale of the timely artifact by Alexander Historical Auctions comes as the two superpowers are scrambling to deny reports that Putin put a bounty on U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
The photo was seen around the world when it was taken in July 2018 during a press conference following two remarkable hours of closed-door meetings by the two world leaders.
It came at the height of the Russia investigation and featured Trump being asked if he believed that Moscow meddled in the election, as U.S. intelligence believed. Said Trump: “President Putin says it’s not Russia. I don’t see any reason why it would be.”
His answer was decried by many in Washington, including key Republicans, such as Sen. John McCain, who called the press conference “disgraceful.”
The Mueller report eventually concluded that there was no Russian collusion.
What’s “amazing” about the photograph that has an opening price of $7,500 is how the signatures were obtained, according to Alexander’s Bill Panagopulos.
While not revealing names, he said that the Putin autograph was obtained by somebody close to the leader and the Trump signature by a campaign aide.
Panagopulos, in the photo’s description, said:
Alexander is one of the nation’s top auction houses for historical artifacts and autographs.
Its mid-July sale, for example, includes several personal items of German dictator Adolf Hitler and top aide Rudolf Hess.
