WATCH: Dem rep ‘trembles at the thought’ of Trump, Putin meeting

by The Hill Staff - 07/05/17 4:31 PM ET

Russian President Vladimir Putin will “read Donald Trump in a heartbeat,” during their meeting at the upcoming G-20 summit, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) tells The Hill.

“[Putin] is a KGB agent by training — he will read Donald Trump in a heartbeat — I tremble at the thought that the two of them could be alone in a room,” Connolly, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in an interview with The Hill’s Molly K. Hooper.

Trump is scheduled to meet with Putin in Hamburg, Germany, at the annual G-20 summit on Friday. In a statement Wednesday, the Kremlin said it hoped to establish a “working dialogue” between the two leaders.

Connolly also said he hopes Trump uses the meeting to address “how unacceptable Russian interference with our election process is,” during their meeting, but added, “reports are that [Trump] has no intention of doing that.”

Not doing so is “tragic, wrong” and “adds further taint to this president,” Connolly said.

Other Democrats have also called for Trump to address Russia’s attempt at influencing the 2016 U.S. presidential election during the meeting. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) hit Trump for not having a specific agenda earlier Wednesday and Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) also said Trump would be “weak’ not to bring up the meddling.