Trump and Putin met in a summit in Helsinki on July 16 , 2018 . The two leaders spoke one-on-one for two hours , with no aides or other people present except for two translators . There was no definite agenda , and no definite agreements were announced . After a joint press conference at the conclusion of the meeting , Trump drew harsh bipartisan criticism in the United States for appearing to side with Putin 's denial of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election , rather than accepting the findings of the United States intelligence community . Universally condemned by Democrats , his comments were also strongly criticized by many congressional Republicans and most media commentators , even those who normally support him
summit
2018 Russia–United States summit
Foreign policy of the Donald Trump administration