--- title: Donald Trump Jr. Tweets Shares Details About Russia Meeting description: Donald Trump Jr. tweeted that his recently disclosed meeting with a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin "went nowhere" canonical: https://time.com/4851179/donald-trump-jr-russia-meeting-tweet/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-10T14:08:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T05:59:58.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: ‘Had to Listen.’ Donald Trump Jr. Defends Controversial Russia Meeting og:description: He claims the meeting "went nowhere" og:url: https://time.com/4851179/donald-trump-jr-russia-meeting-tweet/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2edb18cd58889582/6988d5050a4a22eec39cefb1/gettyimages-6694899021.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 139th White House Easter Egg Roll og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: ‘Had to Listen.’ Donald Trump Jr. Defends Controversial Russia Meeting twitter:description: He claims the meeting "went nowhere" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2edb18cd58889582/6988d5050a4a22eec39cefb1/gettyimages-6694899021.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # ‘Had to Listen.’ Donald Trump Jr. Defends Controversial Russia Meeting by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Updated: Dec 13, 2023 5:59 AM UTCPublished: Jul 10, 2017 2:08 PM UTC  Donald Trump, Jr. attends the 139th White House Easter Egg Roll at The White House on April 17, 2017 in Washington, DC. Leigh Vogel—WireImage, Donald Trump, Jr. attends the 139th White House Easter Egg Roll at The White House on April 17, 2017 in Washington, DC. Leigh Vogel—WireImage,Leigh Vogel—WireImage, by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Updated: Dec 13, 2023 5:59 AM UTCPublished: Jul 10, 2017 2:08 PM UTC [Donald Trump Jr. ](http://time.com/4850654/donald-trump-jr-jared-kushner-russian-lawyer-meeting/?xid=homepage)addressed his recently disclosed meeting with a Russian lawyer who has links to the Kremlin in a tweet early Monday, claiming the conversation “went nowhere,” but he “had to listen.” “Obviously I’m the first person on a campaign to ever take a meeting to hear info about an opponent…,” Trump tweeted. “Went nowhere but had to listen.” > [](https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/884395618784993280) The New York _Times_ [first reported](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/09/us/politics/trump-russia-kushner-manafort.html?%5Fr=0) that Trump Jr., the President’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort met with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya last June amid the 2016 election. Veselnitskaya reportedly promised to offer information that would be damaging to the Clinton campaign. Donald Trump Jr. [confirmed that he took the meeting on Sunday](http://time.com/4850654/donald-trump-jr-jared-kushner-russian-lawyer-meeting/?xid=homepage), saying that he met with the lawyer at the request of an acquaintance from the 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which was held in Moscow. The Washington Post identified publicist Rob Goldstone as the acquaintance who set up the meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and Natalia Veselnitskaya. Goldstone said in a statement the request for the meeting came from his client, Emin Agalarov. “Nothing came of that meeting and there was no follow up between the parties,” Goldstone said. Trump’s tweet included a [New York _Post_ story](http://nypost.com/2017/07/09/the-times-expose-on-donald-trump-jr-is-a-big-yawn/) that dismissed the report on his Russia meeting as a “big yawn.” White House counselor Kellyanne Conway appeared on [_Good Morning America_](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/conway-meaningful-information-received-trump-jrs-meeting-russian/story?id=48540547) on Monday, where she said that “no information was received that was meaningful or helpful and no action was taken,” as a result of the meeting. When asked why the meeting was not initially disclosed, Conway said disclosure statements had been amended to reflect the meeting. 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