During a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky moments ago, President Trump was asked if it was appropriate for his personal attorney to get involved in government business.

He responded by defending his personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani.

"Rudy Giuliani is a great lawyer, he was a great mayor, he's highly respected. I've watched the passion he'd had on television over the last few days. Incredible what he's done. What he has done, he wants to find out where did this Russian witch-hunt...where did it start? How come it started?"

Trump added that Giuliani "knows exactly what he's doing, and it's very important."

More context: Trump mentioned having Giuliani speak to Zelensky during the July 25 call, according to the rough transcript that the White House released today.