--- description: The U.S. Secret Service has denied it gave a green light to a meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and Russian nationals title: Secret Service Denies It Vetted Trump Jr.'s Russia Meeting image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt771c8baf6568ec0a/6988d5d8cf40a8ad7fc4890a/gettyimages-613704336.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [White House](/tag/white-house/) ## White House Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The U.S. Secret Service Says It Did Not Vet Donald Trump Jr.'s Meeting With Russian Nationals by [Joseph Hincks](/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 17, 2017 3:57 AM CUT  Donald Trump, Jr. greets his father Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump during the debate at Washington University on October 9, 2016 in St Louis, Missouri. Donald Trump, Jr. greets his father Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump during the debate at Washington University on October 9, 2016 in St Louis, Missouri.Saul Loeb—Getty Images by [Joseph Hincks](/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 17, 2017 3:57 AM CUT The U.S. Secret Service has denied it gave a green light to a meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and Russian nationals in the run-up to the 2016 Presidential Elections, pouring cold water on suggestions made by President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Sunday. Speaking on the ABC news program _This Week_ Jay Sekulow, a member of the president’s legal team, alluded to Secret Service vetting of a June 2016 meeting between Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya and the President’s son. **Read more:** [_How Donald Trump Jr.’s Emails Have Cranked Up the Heat on His Family_](http://time.com/4856233/donald-trump-jr-emails/ "undefined") “Well, I wonder why the Secret Service, if this was nefarious, why the Secret Service allowed these people in,” Sekulow said in response to questions about the meeting. “The President had Secret Service protection at this point, and that raised a question with me.” But in an [emailed response](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-idUSKBN1A10Q9?il=0 "undefined") to Reuters, Mason Brayman, a spokesman for the Secret Service, said that that Trump Jr. was not under secret service protection in June. “We would not have screened anyone he was meeting with at that time,” Brayman said. \[[Reuters](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-idUSKBN1A10Q9?il=0 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4860286/trump-jr-russia-secret-service-vetting/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4860286/trump-jr-russia-secret-service-vetting/"},"headline":"The U.S. Secret Service Says It Did Not Vet Donald Trump Jr.'s Meeting With Russian Nationals","datePublished":"2017-07-17T03:57:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:34:43.026Z","description":"A spokesman said \"We would not have screened anyone he was meeting with at that time\"","url":"https://time.com/4860286/trump-jr-russia-secret-service-vetting/","keywords":["White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt771c8baf6568ec0a/6988d5d8cf40a8ad7fc4890a/gettyimages-613704336.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joseph Hincks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joseph-hincks/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt771c8baf6568ec0a/6988d5d8cf40a8ad7fc4890a/gettyimages-613704336.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Candidates Hillary Clinton And Donald Trump Hold Second Presidential Debate At Washington University","caption":"Candidates Hillary Clinton And Donald Trump Hold Second Presidential Debate At Washington University","creditText":"Saul Loeb—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4860286/trump-jr-russia-secret-service-vetting/","name":"The U.S. Secret Service Says It Did Not Vet Donald Trump Jr.'s Meeting With Russian Nationals"}}]}] ```