Government papers accidentally left behind in an Alaska hotel have reportedly revealed some of the more sensitive details of the meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin earlier this week.
The two world leaders met for the first time since 2019 as Trump looks to deliver a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, and he got straight to business with his opposite number by pulling him in for his famous handshake after applauding his entrance on the red carpet.
While some are strangely doubting whether it was truly Putin who turned up, perhaps given the rumours that he could be arrested by US authorities, Trump didn't seem to notice anything different, and the two sat down for a near three-hour meeting.
Despite Trump suggesting that lots of progress was made in the meeting, he also confirmed that they hadn't been able to agree on the most important detail, which is of course the ceasefire.
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And journalists were left with more questions than answers after both leaders refused to take any questions during their press conference, before promising that they would speak again soon and abruptly leaving.
However, it seems as if some papers have now revealed some of the more sensitive details from the behind-closed-doors meeting from earlier this week.
Eight pages were discovered in a public printer in the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage, just 20 minutes drive from the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson where they met on Friday.
The papers were said to contain a schedule, several phone numbers of government employees and a lunch menu, with NPR claiming that they were 'produced by the Office of the Chief of Protocol.'
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The first five pages are said to lay out the plans for the day, as well as pronunciations for all of the Russia entourage, while one page suggests that Trump planned to give Putin an American bald eagle statue as a gift.
Just in case you were wondering what they planned for lunch, the pages included that as well. Green salad was the starter, fillet mignon or halibut Olympia the two options for a main meal, and crème brûlée for dessert.
However, that reportedly ended up being cancelled, perhaps due to the lack of vegetarian options, or maybe the crème brûlée was only available if a ceasefire was agreed upon.
Jon Michaels, a lecturer on national security at UCLA, described the pages being left for anyone to find as a major slip-up.
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He told NPR: "It strikes me as further evidence of the sloppiness and the incompetence of the administration.
"You just don't leave things in printers. It's that simple."
However, the White House were quick to suggest that this did not constitute a security breach. Tommy Pigott, the State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson, told the Independent: “Instead of covering the historic steps towards peace achieved at Friday’s summit, NPR is trying to make a story out of a lunch menu. Ridiculous."
Topics: Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Russia, Ukraine, Politics
James Moorhouse