Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, spoke for a second time on July 7 in a previously undisclosed discussion, the White House confirmed on Tuesday. 
 
 A senior White House official told CNN the discussion was "nearly an hour." 
 
 The White House, in a statement acknowledging the meeting, contended it was "brief" and said Trump spoke with Putin through Russia's translator. The US translator at the dinner -- each country was only allowed only one -- spoke Japanese, the White House said. 
 
 National Security Council spokesman Michael Anton said no other staff were present for the discussion. 
 
 The White House statement said the conversation took place in full view of other world leaders and their spouses at a dinner hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel during the G20 summit. Trump was seated near Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Abe's wife, while first lady Melania Trump was seated next to Putin. 
 
 The White House said Trump went over to his wife and spoke with Putin near the dinner's end. 
 
 The discussion came after their scheduled, two-hour-long bilateral meeting earlier that day. 
 
 Russian President Vladimir Putin seen top right, next to US First Lady Melania Trump at a banquet during the G20 Summit in Hamburg. 
 
 The White House, in its statement, sought to downplay the significance of the discussion. 
 
 "It is not merely perfectly normal, it is part of a president's duties, to interact with world leaders," the statement said. 
 
 The statement also disputed characterizing the discussion as a "second meeting," but instead called it a "brief conversation." 
 
 Trump responded to reports of the meeting later Tuesday evening on Twitter. 
 
 "Fake News story of secret dinner with Putin is "sick." All G 20 leaders, and spouses, were invited by the Chancellor of Germany. Press knew!" Trump tweeted, following it up with another, saying: "The Fake News is becoming more and more dishonest! Even a dinner arranged for top 20 leaders in Germany is made to look sinister!" 
 
 Fake News story of secret dinner with Putin is "sick." All G 20 leaders, and spouses, were invited by the Chancellor of Germany. Press knew! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 19, 2017 
 
 The Fake News is becoming more and more dishonest! Even a dinner arranged for top 20 leaders in Germany is made to look sinister! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 19, 2017 
 
 News of the discussion, however, was not that Trump had attended the dinner, but that he had an undisclosed and one-on-one discussion with Putin at it. 
 
 'Only the Russians will have a transcript' 
 
 US presidents at summits often hold private and impromptu discussions with other world leaders. However, the lack of immediate disclosure from the administration as well as Trump's own posture with regard to Russia raised significant questions following reports of the discussion having taken place. 
 
 John Kirby, a CNN diplomatic and military analyst who was a spokesman for the State Department during the Obama administration, said smaller, informal meetings were common and were often where "heavy lifting" could get done. But he also pointed out potentially problematic aspects of the meeting. 
 
 JUST WATCHED Tillerson says sanctions to remain on Russia Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Tillerson says sanctions to remain on Russia 01:15 
 
 "While smaller pull-aside meetings are common, it is strange that a pull-aside with someone like Putin -- especially Putin -- would not include at least another national security official and a translator," Kirby said. 
 
 He pointed out that the lack of a US translator or other support meant the US would be without a scrupulous translation or a record of what was discussed. 
 
 "In this case, we have none of these things," Kirby said. "And only the Russians will have a transcript. Not good." 
 
 Democratic Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, speaking on CNN's "The Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer, said he had heard of the meeting from a source on Tuesday morning. Coons said his source suggested Trump got up and went over to sit down and speak with Putin "for a very long period of time." 
 
 "There was a couples-only social dinner at the G20. Toward the end, the President spoke to Putin at the dinner." 
 
 "No staff or Cabinet were at the dinner at all, for any of the countries," with the exception of translators, Anton said. 
 
 Coons said Trump didn't bring a US translator and relied on Putin's, which the senator called a "basic failure in terms of national security protocol." 
 
 Asked if there was any depth to the conversation, Coons said there was no way to know. ||||| After his much-publicized two-and-a-quarter-hour meeting early this month with Russian President Vladi­mir Putin at the Group of 20 summit in Germany, President Trump chatted informally with the Russian leader for up to an additional hour later the same day. 
 
 The second meeting, undisclosed at the time, took place at a dinner for G-20 leaders, a senior administration official said. At some point during the meal, Trump left his own seat to occupy a chair next to Putin. Trump approached alone, and Putin was attended only by his official interpreter. 
 
 In a statement issued Tuesday night after published reports of the conversation, the White House said that “there was no ‘second meeting’ between President Trump and President Putin, just a brief conversation at the end of a dinner. The insinuation that the White House has tried to ‘hide’ a second meeting,” it said, “is false, malicious and absurd.” 
 
 “All the leaders” circulated around the room throughout the dinner, and “President Trump spoke with many leaders,” the statement said. “As the dinner was concluding,” it said, Trump spoke “briefly” with Putin, who was seated next to first lady Melania Trump. 
 
 The dinner conversation with Putin was first reported Monday by Ian Bremmer, president of the New York-based Eurasia Group, in a newsletter to group clients. Bremmer said the meeting began “halfway” into the meal and lasted “roughly an hour.” The senior administration official said it began with the dessert course, but did not comment on its length. 
 
 (The Washington Post) 
 
 Pool reporters covering Trump noted that his and Putin’s motorcades were among the last to leave the event, departing within minutes of each other just before midnight. 
 
 Trump lashed out at the media for reporting on his undisclosed meeting with Putin, saying the “fake news” was “sick” and “dishonest.” 
 
 But the president distorted what news outlets, including The Washington Post, had reported, saying the story was about a “secret dinner” when in fact it was reported as an undisclosed meeting with Putin at a dinner of the G-20 leaders and their spouses. Trump also incorrectly stated that journalists knew about his meeting with Putin; in fact, they did not until Tuesday, when the White House confirmed that the two presidents met during the dinner. 
 
 In the first of two tweets, Trump wrote: “Fake News story of secret dinner with Putin is ‘sick.’ All G 20 leaders, and spouses, were invited by the Chancellor of Germany. Press knew!” 
 
 Trump then tweeted, “The Fake News is becoming more and more dishonest! Even a dinner arranged for top 20 leaders in Germany is made to look sinister!” 
 
 The dinner encounter appeared to underscore the extent to which Trump was eager throughout the summit to cultivate a friendship with Putin. During last year’s election campaign, he spoke admiringly of the Russian leader and at times seemed captivated by him. 
 
 Meeting each other face-to-face for the first time at the Hamburg summit, the two presidents seemed to have a chemistry in their more formal bilateral session, evidenced by the fact that, despite being scheduled for 35 minutes, it continued for more than two hours. 
 
 View Graphic How the Trump administration changed American foreign policy 
 
 But Trump’s newly revealed conversation with Putin at the G-20 dinner is likely to stoke criticism — including perhaps from some fellow Republicans in Congress — that he is too cozy with the leader of a major U.S. adversary. 
 
 Putin’s official interpreter provided the only Russian-English interpretation, the White House statement said, because the president was seated next to the wife of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. “Each couple was allowed one translator,” it said. “The American translator accompanying President Trump spoke Japanese.” 
 
 The only version of the conversation provided to White House aides was that given by Trump himself, said the administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity before the White House statement was issued. Reporters traveling with the White House were not informed during the trip, and there was no formal readout of the chat. 
 
 The official Trump-Putin meeting, earlier in the day, led to confusion over whether Trump agreed, as Putin later implied, to accept the Kremlin’s denial of any wrongdoing regarding interference in last year’s election. 
 
 That meeting was attended by the leaders and their two interpreters, along with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. 
 
 Tillerson later said Trump twice asked Putin if the conclusions of the U.S. intelligence community that Russia had meddled in the race were true, and Putin twice denied it, so they moved on to other subjects of importance to the bilateral relationship, including Syria. 
 
 Russia’s activities during the election, along with allegations that members of Trump’s campaign may have coordinated with Kremlin attempts to tilt the race in Trump’s direction, are the subject of investigations in Congress and by a special counsel. 
 
 In Trump’s own account of the formal meeting, he repeated earlier comments that another country might have been responsible for cyber-interference in the election. “I’m not saying it wasn’t Russia. What I’m saying is that we have to protect ourselves no matter who it is,” he told reporters on Air Force One as he returned from a visit to France last week. 
 
 “You know, China is very good at this,” Trump said. “I hate to say it, North Korea is very good at this.” 
 
 Trump also said that Putin was unlikely to have preferred him over Hillary Clinton as president, since his goals include taking international energy business away from Russia and building up the U.S. military. 
 
 The dinner at the G-20 summit, held July 7-8, occurred hours after Trump and Putin’s lengthy formal meeting. Leaders and their spouses were invited to a musical performance at Hamburg’s riverside concert venue, followed by an intimate dinner at which they were seated next to the spouse of one of their counterparts, rather than their own. Melania Trump was seated next to Putin. 
 
 Trump, who is among the newest world leaders in the G-20, remained at the dinner for the entire night. He was among the last to leave — after the host, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, had already departed. Pool reporters with the president saw Putin’s motorcade leave at 11:50 p.m., followed shortly by Trump, who departed the concert hall at 11:54 p.m. 
 
 Leaders who witnessed the meeting were “bemused, nonplussed, befuddled” by the animated conversation, held in full view — but apparently not within listening distance — of others present, Bremmer said by telephone. He said he spoke with two participants at the dinner. 
 
 One senior European official whose head of government was there played down the attention the Trump-Putin chat garnered, saying it was not unusual for leaders to circulate or “withdraw to a corner” at such private gatherings. 
 
 “Part of the rationale is the flurry of bilateral contacts that happen,” the official said. “I don’t find it a sensation,” he said of the lengthy dinner chat, although “maybe Trump and Putin are a little different” from other attendees. 
 
 The administration official said there was nothing unusual in a meeting with no aides present, noting that Trump met alone with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris and held a one-on-one session, with no aides present, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House. 
 
 Abby Phillip contributed to this report. 
 
 Read more: 
 
 Putin denies election hacking after Trump pressed him, Tillerson says 
 
 U.S., Russian officials meet as Kremlin accuses U.S. of ‘robbery’ over dachas 
 
 At G-20 summit, it looks more and more like Trump against the world ||||| CLOSE President Donald Trump had another, previously undisclosed conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit it Germany. Time 
 
 President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet in Hamburg, Germany, on July 7. (Photo: Evan Vucci, Evan Vucci, AP) 
 
 The White House acknowledged that President Trump "spoke briefly" with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a global meeting earlier this month, but insisted it was just a normal part of presidential duties and denied news reports surfacing Tuesday that it was a second private meeting. 
 
 "There was no 'second meeting' between President Trump and President Putin, just a brief conversation at the end of a dinner," the White House said in a statement. "The insinuation that the White House has tried to 'hide' a second meeting is false, malicious and absurd." 
 
 Trump also denounced press accounts of the meeting on Twitter. 
 
 Fake News story of secret dinner with Putin is "sick." All G 20 leaders, and spouses, were invited by the Chancellor of Germany. Press knew! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 19, 2017 
 
 The discussion happened in Hamburg, Germany, during a dinner among world leaders at the Group of 20 economic summit. 
 
 It came after a formal conversation between Trump and Putin in which they discussed Russia's alleged attempts to influence the 2016 White House election. In that meeting, which lasted more than two hours, Trump says he questioned Putin about whether he meddled in the presidential election – and Putin denied he was involved. 
 
 The U.S. intelligence community has concluded Putin orchestrated a campaign of cyberattacks and fake news to influence the election in favor of Trump. Multiple congressional committees and a special counsel are investigating Russian interference, as well as possible collusion between Trump associates and Russia. 
 
 Earlier Tuesday, multiple news outlets reported the previously undisclosed talk between Trump and Putin as a second meeting that lasted up to an hour. 
 
 Foreign leaders apparently witnessed the more private conversation, of which there is no public government record, and were taken aback by the two seeming to flaunt a close rapport, according to the New York Times. 
 
 "Pretty much everyone at the dinner thought this was really weird, that here is the president of the United States, who clearly wants to display that he has a better relationship personally with President Putin than any of us, or simply doesn’t care,” Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, a Washington-based research and consulting firm, told the Times. 
 
 Trump was apparently not joined in the second conversation by his own translator, which The Hill reported is a breach of national security protocol. 
 
 Bremmer responded to Trump's tweets about the meeting on Tuesday night. 
 
 Press didn't know you spent an hour during dinner in 1-1 discussion w Putin (& his translator). Other G20 leaders found it...unusual. https://t.co/w3QIyJbMbp — ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) July 19, 2017 
 
 Yet the White House version of events is quite different. 
 
 At a publicly scheduled dinner for heads of state and their spouses only, First Lady Melania Trump was seated next to Putin. "During the course of the dinner, all the leaders circulated throughout the room and spoke with one another freely," the White House statement said. "President Trump spoke with many leaders during the course of the evening. As the dinner was concluding, President Trump went over to Mrs. Trump, where he spoke briefly with President Putin." 
 
 The White House said the American translator accompanying Trump spokedd Japanese, and so both Trump and Putin used the Russian translator to speak to each other, since the American translator did not speak Russian. "It is not merely perfectly normal, it is part of a President's duties, to interact with world leaders," the statement said. 
 
 Also on Tuesday, the White House said Trump plans to nominate Gov. John Huntsman of Utah as ambassador to Russia. Huntsman chairs the Atlantic Council, a foreign policy think tank. He also has served as ambassador to China and to Singapore. 
 
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– President Trump says his previously undisclosed one-on-one with Vladimir Putin was no secret and no big deal—and the media is "sick" for suggesting otherwise. Trump reportedly spoke to Putin for around an hour after leaving his seat during a couples-only dinner with other leaders during the G20 summit. He had met with Putin earlier in the day with aides present. "All G 20 leaders, and spouses, were invited by the Chancellor of Germany," Trump tweeted late Tuesday. "Press knew!" In a statement, the White House said the talk was a "brief conversation" and any insinuation that the administration tried to hide it "is false, malicious, and absurd," USA Today reports. "The Fake News is becoming more and more dishonest!" Trump said in a second tweet. "Even a dinner arranged for top 20 leaders in Germany is made to look sinister!" But despite efforts to downplay the meeting, some analysts say it raises security concerns. Besides Putin and Trump, the only person party to the conversation was Putin's translator, meaning there is no independent American account of the meeting and what was discussed. "If I was in the Kremlin, my recommendation to Putin would be, 'See if you can get this guy alone,' and that's what it sounds like he was able to do," former ambassador to Ukraine Steven Pifer tells the New York Times.