Three guests at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage, Alaska, discovered US State Department documents containing unreleased information about the summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The papers were found in a printer at the hotel on 15/8.
The Captain Cook Hotel is about a 20-minute drive from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, where the summit took place. The guests found the documents around 9 a.m., nearly three hours before President Trump welcomed President Putin to the base.
Images released by NPR show the eight-page document set, bearing the State Department's seal and marked "prepared by the Office of the Chief of Protocol". The papers included schedules, locations, and specific meeting times for the two leaders, along with phone numbers of several US government officials.
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Documents pertaining to the Trump-Putin meeting were leaked on the morning of 15/8. Photo: NPR |
Documents pertaining to the Trump-Putin meeting were leaked on the morning of 15/8. Photo: NPR
The first page detailed the sequence of meetings for 15/8, listing the meeting rooms at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. The documents also revealed that Trump planned to present Putin with a bald eagle statue, the national bird of the US.
Subsequent pages listed 13 high-ranking US and Russian officials attending the meeting, including phone numbers for three US personnel. A pronunciation guide for Putin's name was also included.
Another section described the lunch menu for President Putin, featuring salad, beef tenderloin, grilled halibut, and creme brulee for dessert. A seating chart showed President Trump sitting opposite President Putin. Alongside the US president were Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and other key cabinet members. The lunch was later canceled.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly stated that this was not a security breach, describing the documents as "a few pages of catering menus" containing no classified information. The State Department declined to comment.
Thanh Danh (NPR, Independent, ABC)
