In an alarming revelation, sensitive documents marked with U.S. State Department insignia were discovered on Friday morning in the business center of the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage, Alaska.
The eight pages, believed to have been inadvertently left behind by U.S. staff, contained classified details about the August 15 meetings between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir V. Putin.
Three hotel guests stumbled upon the documents while using a public printer around 9 a.m. and later shared photos of the materials with NPR. To protect their identity and avoid potential retaliation, NPR agreed not to disclose their names.
The first page of the packet outlined a detailed schedule of the meetings, specifying the names of rooms at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, where the summit was taking place. Notably, it mentioned that President Trump planned to present Putin with a ceremonial gift, specifically an “American Bald Eagle Desk Statue.”
In response to the incident, White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly characterized the documents as a “multi-page lunch menu” and downplayed their significance, suggesting that the situation did not constitute a security breach.
Despite requests for comments, the U.S. Department of State has yet to respond.
Pages 2 through 5 of the documents included personal phone numbers and names of three U.S. staff members, as well as a roster of 13 U.S. and Russian state leaders expected to attend the summit. Additionally, it provided phonetic pronunciations for the names of Russian attendees, explicitly noting “Mr. President POO-tihn.”
The packet also laid out the lunch arrangements for the summit. The meeting’s participant list indicated that a luncheon was scheduled in Putin’s honor, although it was ultimately canceled during the event.
A proposed menu detailed a simple three-course meal featuring a green salad, followed by filet mignon and halibut olympia, rounding off with crème brûlée for dessert.
The seating arrangement was notably strategic—Trump and Putin were to sit directly across from each other during the meal. The seating chart revealed that Trump would be accompanied on his right by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. On his left would be Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and Special Envoy for Peace Missions Steve Witkoff.
Putin’s seating arrangement included his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, and Aide to the President for Foreign Policy, Yuri Ushakov, immediately beside him.
Legal expert Jon Michaels, who teaches at UCLA and specializes in national security, expressed concerns about the implications of this discovery. He remarked on the apparent lapse in judgment and organizational competence from the Trump administration, stating, “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.”
This incident is merely one of many security oversights associated with officials from the Trump administration. Recently, there have been reports of a law enforcement chat group mistakenly adding an unrelated individual while discussing a high-profile criminal search. Additionally, there was an incident in March where a journalist found themselves included in conversations about imminent military strikes in Yemen.
Such breaches highlight ongoing concerns regarding the administration’s handling of sensitive information and the broader implications for national security.
image source from：npr
