Morning Joe: Trump’s Pattern of Private and Unreported Putin Meetings is Truly ‘Unsettling and Disturbing’

The White House recently acknowledged that President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin informally met at Buenos Aires during the G20 summit, but a new report claims that their conversation was longer than originally reported and included no American personnel.

In November, Trump pointedly canceled his scheduled meeting with Putin due to Russia’s aggressive action to Ukrainian ships. Trump even went so far as to tweet, “I look forward to a meaningful meeting again as soon as this situation is resolved.” But the Financial Times reported the two leaders actually met for 15 reported minutes at the end of an evening event with no translator or notetaker from the U.S. Side to record what was said.

Co-host Joe Scarborough asked “Why is it that the translator’s never from the American side. If it is always to be one translator, always a translator for Vladimir Putin but never a translator for the American side?”

Susan Del Percio believes that the answer is as simple as “because President Trump does not trust the Intel community, he does not trust his own staff.” She then returned to previous reports adding “This goes back to Jared Kushner wanted to back channel with the Russians right after the Russians and wanted as an open line of communication.”

John Heilemann jumped in saying “Trump, for whatever reason, whatever he’s talking to with Vladimir Putin is stuff he does not want any American to know about. That raises all kind of — a slightly chilling thing this happens every time he meets with Putin and not reported or read out to the press and has no one from the American government ever present. That pattern is truly unsettling and disturbing.”

Watch above courtesy of MSNBC.