Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Michael (Mike) Richard PompeoTreasury sanctions individuals, groups tied to Russian malign influence activities Navalny released from hospital after suspected poisoning Overnight Defense: Pentagon redirects pandemic funding to defense contractors | US planning for full Afghanistan withdrawal by May | Anti-Trump GOP group puts ads in military papers MORE said Friday that he’s “very hopeful” that President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power Two Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor grand jury protests MORE and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in Washington, D.C., this fall.

“Those conversations are incredibly important, we have our senior leaders meeting all across the world with people we have deep disagreements with,” Pompeo told reporters.

“It is incredibly valuable to the people of the United States of America that President Trump and President Putin continue to engage in dialogue to resolve the difficult issues that our countries face between each other,” he said.

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"I think this makes enormous sense and I’m very hopeful that that meeting will take place this fall," he said.

.@SecPompeo on possible meeting between Trump and Putin in Washington, D.C.: "I'm very hopeful that that meeting will take place this fall." pic.twitter.com/eVX8j1A7xZ — FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) July 20, 2018

The White House said Thursday that Trump had directed national security adviser John Bolton to invite Putin to visit D.C. in the fall, an announcement made days after the two leaders met one-on-one in Finland.

MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell broke news of the invite to Trump's Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats Daniel (Dan) Ray CoatsFBI chief says Russia is trying to interfere in election to undermine Biden The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by The Air Line Pilots Association - Trump, Biden renew push for Latino support Former Intel chief had 'deep suspicions' that Putin 'had something on Trump': book MORE during an interview at the Aspen Security Forum on Thursday.

"Say that again?” Coats asked Mitchell before laughing in front of the audience.

“Did I hear you right?” he jokingly asked, amid laughs. “OK, that’s gonna be special.”

Some lawmakers, including several GOP senators, are pushing back against Trump holding a second meeting with Putin so soon after Monday’s summit in Helsinki, where Trump sparked backlash by appearing to side with Putin’s denial of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Trump attempted to walk back the comments in a statement Tuesday, saying he accepted the U.S. intelligence community's findings that Russia interfered in the 2016 election before adding that it "could be other people also."

The president said during an interview with CBS News on Wednesday that he holds Putin personally responsible for election meddling.