Putin appears to joke with Trump about reporters in front of them
(President Donald Trump meets Vladimir Putin, President of Russia (right), at the opening of the G20 summit on July 7, 2017 in Hamburg, Germany.Steffen Kugler/BPA via Getty Images)
President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shared a laugh at the expense of journalists covering the G-20 summit in Germany on Friday.
The two leaders were chatting with each other ahead of their two-hour meeting when the press was asked to leave the room.
As the reporters made their exit, Putin gestured to them and reportedly asked Trump, "These are the ones who insulted you?" according to a translation from CNN's Jim Sciutto.
Trump then broke into a chuckle as the two continued talking.
"These are the ones who insulted you?" Putin to Trump as he points to reporters https://t.co/vxx8qcDkRp
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) July 7, 2017
Both leaders have reputations as opponents of the press. Under Putin's leadership, press freedom in Russia has been severely restricted, and he has been accused of being involved in the deaths of more than two-dozen Russian journalists. Intelligence officials concluded in January that Russia's interference in the US election included the dissemination of fake news online.
Meanwhile, Trump regularly derides negative coverage of him as fake news, and has caught heat for comments that some critics have interpreted as a call to violence against journalists.
Watch the clip below:
"Вот эти тебя обижали?": Путин и Трамп обсудили на встрече журналистов pic.twitter.com/cWZQA8HjSC
— Дмитрий Смирнов (@dimsmirnov175) July 7, 2017
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