Aspen Security Forum / Via youtube.com

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats had spent about 40 minutes talking to a crowd at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado about the severity of the threat posed by Russia when he was informed that President Trump was bringing President Vladimir Putin to Washington, DC. "We have some breaking news," the event's moderator, NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell, told Coats. "The White House has announced on Twitter that Vladimir Putin is coming to the White House in the fall." "Say that again?" said Coats, laughing. "Did I hear you right? Okaaaay. That's going to be special."

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats informed on stage at Aspen Security Forum that the Trump administration has invited Vladimir Putin to the White House. "Say that again," he responds. https://t.co/RBdhdILVas https://t.co/TZal1Xb4Yi

Earlier, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had announced on Twitter that Trump had told national security adviser John Bolton to invite Putin to the US capital. "Those discussions are already underway," she tweeted.

Before he was surprised with the Putin news, Coats had earlier in the interview stressed that Russia, at the direction of its president, had meddled in the 2016 election and was trying to undermine American democracy. "They are the ones that are trying to undermine our basic values, divide us with our allies. They are the ones that are trying to wreak havoc over our election process," he said. "We need to call them out on that. It's critical that we do so, and then take steps to make sure they are not able to do this with the election coming up." Coats added that he felt it was his job to correct Trump's statements at a Helsinki press conference alongside Putin on Monday that suggested Russia was not responsible. "Obviously I wished he had made a different statement, but I think now that has been clarified based on his late reactions to this," Coats said.