The eight pages, apparently created by US officials and accidentally left behind, contained the exact locations and times of meetings and phone numbers of US government officials, US public radio NPR reported.
Around 9 a.m. local time, three guests at the Captain Cook Hotel, a four-star hotel 20 minutes from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, where the American and Russian leaders met, found documents left in one of the hotel's public printers.
NPR has reviewed photos of documents taken by one of the guests, but has not identified him for fear of retaliation.
How does this happen? Trump-Putin documents left on hotel printer : NPR https://t.co/dta90OeuTc— WV Federation of Democratic Women (@WVFDW) August 16, 2025
The White House and the US State Department did not respond to requests for documents.
There were phone numbers and seating arrangements on the papers
The front page revealed the schedule for the August 15 meeting, including the exact names of the rooms inside the Anchorage base where the meetings were to take place. It was also revealed that Trump intended to give Putin a ceremonial gift.
"The President of the United States to President Putin," the document said,"to a statuette of an American bald eagle for his desk."
Pages two through five list the names and phone numbers of three US officials, as well as the names of 13 US and Russian heads of state. The list contained the phonetic pronunciations of all Russian summit participants, including"Mr. President POO-tihn".
Pages six and seven describe how lunch will be served at the summit and to whom. The documents also contained a menu, which indicated that the lunch would be held"in honor of His Excellency Vladimir Putin".
The seating arrangement showed that Putin and Trump will be seated across from each other. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegsett and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles were to sit to Trump's right, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Special Envoy for Peacekeeping Missions Steve Witkoff to his left.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Putin's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov were supposed to sit right next to Putin.
"Another proof of carelessness and incompetence"
During the summit, lunch was apparently cancelled. But the documents show that a simple three-part meal was planned. After the green salad, they had to choose between filet mignon or halibut olympia. Creme brulee should have been served for dessert.
John Michaels, a UCLA law professor who teaches national security, said the documents found in an Alaskan hotel printer reveal a lack of professional judgment in preparing for a high-risk meeting.
"It seems to me like another example of carelessness and incompetence on the part of the administration," Michaels said."These things just don't stay in the printing press," he said.
The leaked documents are the latest in a series of security breaches by Trump administration officials.
Earlier this week, members of a law enforcement group chat, which included U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials, accidentally added an unknown person to a conversation about a manhunt for attempted murder.
In March, US security officials mistakenly included a journalist in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen.