White House Responds to Trump-Putin Documents Being Found in Hotel Printer

Reports surfaced this week that sensitive documents from Donald Trump’s Alaska summit with Vladimir Putin were left behind in a hotel printer, sparking a wave of headlines about a potential security breach.

The White House quickly brushed it off. Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told reporters the papers were essentially a “multi-page lunch menu,” joking that it was “hilarious” NPR would treat it as a scandal.

The documents, according to NPR, included more than just food choices. They outlined seating charts, a planned luncheon that was ultimately canceled, phonetic guides for Russian names, and even phone numbers for three U.S. government staffers. Photos taken by hotel guests showed eight pages stamped with U.S. State Department insignia.

The timing made the find even more striking. The papers surfaced the very morning Trump and Putin met at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. The two leaders sat down to discuss the war in Ukraine, though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was not invited.

Putin’s army, meanwhile, continued strikes on Ukrainian positions even as he met Trump to talk about a ceasefire. Kyiv has insisted no peace is possible without security guarantees and the return of occupied territory, while Putin demands NATO keep Ukraine out and that Kyiv recognize Russia’s claimed annexations.

Reactions after the meeting were mixed. Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksandr Merezhko argued that Putin used the summit to project strength and show he’s not isolated. Trump, on the other hand, told Fox News afterward that responsibility now rests with Zelensky to “get it done,” while urging European nations to step up.

One unusual note: Trump hand-delivered a letter from Melania Trump to Putin about the impact of the war on children. The contents weren’t shared publicly, but it drew attention given the International Criminal Court’s warrant against Putin for allegedly abducting thousands of Ukrainian children.

For Trump, the summit was also a chance to revive familiar talking points. He described his relationship with Putin as “fantastic,” blaming the “Russia hoax” for straining ties during his presidency.

Whether these documents were an embarrassing slip-up or just an overblown story, they added another layer of drama to a meeting that was already high-stakes.