Aboard Air Force One en route back to the United States from the G20 Summit, Donald Trump had a tense conversation with aides about handling a looming report revealing that campaign manager Paul Manafort, his son in law Jared Kushner, his son, Donald Trump, Jr., had met with Russian operatives in Trump Tower about receiving dirt on the Hillary Clinton campaign.
White House aide and former Trump campaign communications director Hope Hicks texted Trump, Jr. a statement to give to the New York Times about the infamous Trump Tower meeting.
"It was a short meeting. I asked Jared and Paul to stop by," the statement read. "We discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families years ago and was since ended by the Russian government, but it was not a campaign issue at that time and there was no follow-up."
President Trump invited then-FBI Director James Comey over to the White House for dinner. Comey reluctantly accepted and arrived on time, which pleased Trump.
"I like that. I like people who are on time," Trump said. "I think a leader should always be on time."
During the dinner, Trump asked Comey about staying on as FBI director, but made an odd request.
"I need loyalty," Trump said. "I expect loyalty."
Comey would describe the scene as "surreal."
One of the most explosive scenes depicted in the Mueller report is when then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the investigation into Russian interference, citing his involvement with the 2016 campaign.
"You're telling me that Bobby and Jack didn't talk about investigations?" Trump asked when learning he could not communicate with Sessions about investigations into his campaign. "Or Obama didn't tell Eric Holder to investigate?"
At one point, Trump wanted Mueller gone. He told White House counsel Don McGahn to pressure Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to fire Mueller.
"You gotta do this," Trump said to McGahn. "You gotta call Rod."
McGhan would ultimately ignore Trump's order, telling him it would be too dangerous.
McGahn is mentioned more times than anyone else in the Mueller report. He would later resign from his position in the White House to return to Jones Day, a high-powered law firm in Washington.
In June, the House of Representatives voted to hold McGahn in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify about his role in the investigation.
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