President Biden appeared to be holding another of his “cheat sheets” at his high-stakes summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Switzerland on Wednesday.
Biden seemed to be hiding the notes from Putin, a former KBG agent, as they sat on opposite sides of a small table inside the historic Villa la Grange in Geneva, the Sun reported.
As journalists recorded the scene, Biden, 78, peered at his paper before tucking it into an inside pocket of his suit jacket.
Biden, 78, sat erect and cross-legged in his chair, while the 68-year-old Putin — who is shorter and thick around the middle — sat slumped with his feet planted wide and his hands on his thighs.
The scene unfolded as the two world leaders barely made eye contact during introductory remarks that were interrupted by a shoving match between American reporters and Russian security personnel.
The chaos largely drowned out Biden’s comments, which included calling the US and Russia “two great powers.”
Biden also nodded after a reporter asked if he trusted Putin, which White House communications director Kate Bedingfield quickly walked back by tweeting that the president “was very clearly not responding to any one question, but nodding in acknowledgment to the press generally.”
“He said just two days ago in his presser: ‘verify, then trust,'” she added.
At one point, Biden also appeared confused about whether he would be fielding questions, asking Secretary of State Antony Blinken, “I’m not sure how this will work. One at a time?”
It was unclear what Biden’s notes said, but he’s been photographed in the past holding a chart with the names and faces of reporters, apparently marked with numbers showing in which order he planned to call on them during his first news conference in March.
During that White House event, Biden also had a printed card that said “Infrastructure,” followed by a list of bullet points and notes on topics including “China,” “Bridges” and Roads.”
Despite the prepared talking points, Biden mistakenly said the US ranked 85th globally in the quality of its infrastructure before correcting himself to say 13th.
