Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said Americans were getting "played" by President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, following the meeting of the two world leaders at the G-20 Summit on Friday, The Hill reported.
"We're getting played by our president and certainly we're getting played by Putin," Waters told MSNBC. "I don't like the idea that our president again would go into a room without any note-takers, without any staff…and come out of it saying how honored he is to meet with [Putin]."
There was an air of crisp civility when Trump and Putin shook hands before the media. The president told Putin, "It's an honor to be with you," and Putin responded, "I am delighted to be able to meet you personally, Mr. President."
In their private meeting, the only people in attendance were Trump, Putin, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and two translators. The meeting ran over two hours, and afterward Lavrov and Tillerson gave conflicting accounts of the conversation between the two presidents.
Tillerson said Trump "pressed" Putin on the issue of claims of Russian hacking in the 2016 presidential election. Lavrov said Trump "accepted" Putin's denial of Russian interference.
Trump and Putin also reportedly discussed forming a "working group" to address cyber security issues and said they would work together on future threats of election interference and organized crime, the article explained.
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