The significant detail missing from transcript of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin’s press conference

IT’S already one of the most controversial press conferences Donald Trump has ever done but the US President is now facing fresh questions over one significant change.

DONALD Trump’s remarks at the “surrender summit” have already created plenty of controversy but there are now questions around the reporting of “perhaps the most explosive exchange”.

During the press conference held by the United States President and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Mr Putin was asked a question by a journalist but the White House transcript does not contain the full question.

According to The Atlantic, the full question asked by Reuters reporter Jeff Mason was: “President Putin, did you want President Trump to win the election and did you direct any of your officials to help him do that?”

Mr Putin’s answer was: “Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Because he talked about bringing the US-Russia relationship back to normal.”

While it’s not exactly clear what Mr Putin was saying yes to, Mr Mason speculates that it was more likely he was confirming he wanted Mr Trump to win the election.

But when you look at the White House transcript of the exchange, his question is cut short.

Mr Mason asks the question after Mr Putin suggests there could be possible cooperation between Russia and the US to assist Robert Mueller’s investigation into 12 Russian officials indicted by the US grand jury last week.

“Options abound, and they can all be found in an appropriate legal framework,” Mr Putin is recorded as saying.

Following this comment, Mr Mason’s question is then shortened to: “And did you direct any of your officials to help him do that?”

To which Mr Putin replies: “Yes, I did …”

This appears to suggest Mr Putin was saying “yes” to cooperating in the investigation, not that he was supportive of Mr Trump winning the election.

Mr Putin’s acknowledgment that he may have directed officials to cooperate with the investigation, is a lot less significant than admitting he wanted Mr Trump to win the election, or that he directed officials to help him do that.

It’s not clear why the White House transcript did not include the full question. The full question also doesn’t appear in its live-stream or in the Kremlin’s transcript of the event, according to The Atlantic.

Technical difficulties could be to blame, as Mr Putin’s comments were still being translated into English as Mason was starting to ask his question. The microphone also didn’t seem to pick up the journalist’s full remarks.

But the mix-up is only adding to the suspicion and confusion that Mr Trump and Mr Putin’s comments have created.

“The discrepancies in the accounts of what was said also underscore the extent to which the Trump presidency has challenged a common understanding of reality,” the Atlantic article suggests.

“Even if the omission was accidental, it appears suspicious at a moment marked by the President’s repeated claims that legitimate news reports are ‘fake’.”

US President Donald Trump (left) and Russian President Vladimir Putin speak to the media during a joint press conference after their summit on July 16, 2018 in Helsinki, Finland. Picture: Chris McGrath/Getty Images

The press conference between the two leaders has been dubbed the “surrender summit” and the “treason summit” after Mr Trump appeared to accept the Russian President’s “strong and powerful” denials that it meddled in the 2016 US election, contrary to conclusions of America’s own intelligence agencies.

Mr Trump later did an extraordinary backflip on the comments after a huge backlash, suggesting he had meant to say: “I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t be Russia,” rather than, “I don’t see any reason why it would be Russia”.