The articles criticizing Trump for sitting down with foreign leaders that are not allied with us are getting tiresome. Always the theme is that by sitting down with them, the foreign leaders gain in stature somehow, as though a US President isolating or ignoring their leader will bring them into line. When has that ever worked?
What ever happened to “Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate?”
3
No president in the last 200 years would have even considered meeting with Putin in light of the indictments. Our president is nothing less than a traitor to the country he is supposed to serve and we can only hope he will one day be tried for it.
10
Headline: "Just Sitting Down With Trump, Putin Comes Out Ahead."
The unexamined premise of this headline is that any meeting can result only in a zero-sum outcome—Russia wins, so the West necessary loses.
I find this kind of reporting both typical and tiresome.
Perhaps both the U.S. and Russia can come out ahead. For example, Russia faces decades of ostracism over its annexation of the Crimea, and the West faces decades of having to pretend that Russia didn't successfully annex it and having to publicly deny that it's a fait accompli, when every sentient human being knows that it is. Everyone loses.
How about President Trump proposing to President Putin that Russia pay $100 billion to the Ukraine (if the Ukraine will accept it) as a purchase of the Crimea? Sanctions can then be lifted, the regional economy and Russia's will benefit; the West is freed of its sanctions burden, which handcuffs it even as it handcuffs Russia.
Well, come to think of it, there would be one loser: the gray men and women in the national-security apparatus who rely on such standoffs to perpetuate the permanent low-intensity conflict off of which their careers feed. Ah, well, too bad. (No, I am not a Russian troll!)
3
TRUMP by accusing Europe of acting as the foe of the United States seems unaware of diplomatic protocol. Europe never expected such wild random swipes. For TRUMP Russia entitled to more respect in his mind. Trump failed to notice the worldwide expulsion of Russian diplomats in reaction to SKYPAL Salisbury chemical attack in Britain. Russia insists it was not involved and still seeking some proof from Britain. Trump stepping into unknown territory in FINLAND known for its Mongolian language and FINLANDIA classical music.
The premise of the story is blown out of the water in the second paragraph.
"...take place without any major friction..."
On what part of this trip has Trump not caused "friction" A man notorious for saying what he thinks has no reason to start mincing words now.
I realize it is the job of every Times employee to cast doubt about Trump but this is just lame.
Trump increased sanctions after the first Russian indictments. He also expelled more than sixty Russian operatives. It's not likely that Putin will get anything more than a photo op.
1
Could it be that Trump is the ultimate fake news story this week in the Russian press after this meeting Monday?. He could even be the fake news story of the year after this meeting. What yarn they could spin without touching the distant, wistful indictments of those 12 Russian hackers, maybe even preserving Trumps tabloid patina in the exclusive Russian press. Putin and the Russian press could layer it on thick, and with no one to follow up. Russian baloney. Hopefully, real problems stay sidelined. Would advise against sipping coffee or tea.
And should the Dems miraculously look good to win in October, deus ex machina-style, then Trump can explode a couple pages of stuff about the Mueller bunch or the Hillary partners working directly under Mr. Obama - not previoisly released yet - and all the independents line be lined up to vote whn the polls open.
All the chicaney and politicization of NSA, CIA, FBI, and other agencies was carried out at his direction. Would YOU have done that illegal and unethical stuff were he NOT telling you to do so?
WAKE UP AMERICA .... The Oval Office is just a money machine for Donald. No other President has ever made so many millions. Ethics be damned .... the entire Republican Party is afraid to call him out on what he does. And the American people wind up with a game show host for President.
Not one penny for infrastructure .... and Trump-Care will never happen ---- you can bet the rent money on that. But the top 1% will be richer that ever.
4
Putin doesn't need to give Trump "a real master class" ie all he needs to do is say "Remember the Moscow Hotel" and Trump will be on his knees. People laugh at this but agent Chris Steele claims there is a 70-80% chance that Putin does indeed have a sex tape of Donald Trump that I am sure Trump doesn't want Putin to release online for the entire world to see. Folks, we are in the twilite zone
1
As a conservative reading these comments, I am shocked to learn that by supporting Trump, I am ignorant, "aiding and abetting treason", "destroying our country". Shocking that the NYT actually allow these almost hysterical comments.
2
RE: Just sitting down, Putin comes out ahead
" Speaking in February 2009 at the Munich security conference, Vice President Joe Biden said Russia and the United States should press the “reset button on their relationship.” A month later, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met in Geneva, where Clinton gave her counterpart a symbolic button they were to press together. Printed on the button was the word “reset” in both English and Russian. Unfortunately, the Russian version was misspelled, and instead of “reset” (perezagruzka) it said “overload” (peregruzka)."
(Foreign Policy, 12/9/2016)
Which raises the question
Why did the NYT not declare in 2009 that Russia would come out ahead when sitting down with Biden, Clinton, and Obama ?
Could it be
quod licet iovi (Obama) non licet bovi (Trump) ?
2
Trump is merely expediting the inevitable end of the American Empire, thus saving the U.S. a lot of blood and treasure. And I, for one, welcome our new Russian/Chinese overlords.
By meeting with Putin, Trump can't do any worse than his feckless predecessors: Bush and Obama. Bush absurdly claimed that "I looked him (Putin) straight in the eye and got a sense of his soul." How's that for strategy?
Even worse was Obama's clueless Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. She presented the Russian diplomat with a button facsimile purported to translate as "reset", but in truth, translated "overload." Trump can do no worse than these clowns.
So Trump says the Press is an enemy, but Putin is not an enemy. Because Trump is under pressure from all the scrutiny he is not doing his typical bragging what great Friends he is with Putin, and how his becoming great buddies with Putin would be an obvious "good thing".
The FBI is on his enemies list but not Russia. The EU is a foe, an opponent according to the tiny mind of our big loud mouthed buffoon Trump, but Russian is no worse, just another foe or "competitor". And what do republicans in congress do while Trump spouts this nonsense? They go to Russia on independence day to suck up and make nice with Putin and his staff of meddlers. Disgusting and disgraceful. Their covering for Trump has been humiliating and has effectively stripped them of whatever dignity they had left. Watching those congressman over lunch with the Russians made me want to puke.
Meanwhile these same clowns, these same -- I want to call them traitors -- savaged the FBI in their kangaroo court and tried to hang it all from the slender threat of "bias". Well what do you call it when Trump has viciously attacked pretty much everyone but still to this day, has never once criticized Putin. What should we call that? It looks like it goes well beyond bias and is more in the vicinity of treason.
This spectacle of a presidency has degenerated into a very bad and very sick joke. Make him resign.
Trump is a Traitor...plain and simple....and Treason should be at the heart of the many impeachment indictments against him.....what a disgrace.....dragging our beloved nation to the nadir of international relationships, jeopardizing our national security.
2
Nonsense, write the story line before the meet? Hasn’t the NYT learn anything?
3
Writing a story before going out in the field is an error in reporting and it shows in this article. No one knows what will come out of this just like when President Trump met with the leader of North Korea. If we want better relations with Russia we have to talk to them just like Presidents in the past have done. Unlike Obama Trump is not leading from behind and does not have a policy of strategic patience. Division in this country is not Trump it is the media and the left that has not gotten over the fact Hillary lost.
1
V. Putin will throw his puppy DTrump a bone at this meeting, perhaps a nuclear deal and of course it will be "the greatest deal in history".
The NYT is inadvertently helping the Trump-Fox team by its repetition of the “deep state” myth. It has fallen into Trump’s propaganda trap.
1
Where is the analysis? This reads like a glorified opinion piece by the editorial board, it's all innuendo and conjecture. There is no factual analysis on Syria, or the Middle East, areas where the US and Russia have joint issues. The entire article reads of what Russia will accomplish in the meeting and goes as far as to beckon back to Yalta ( let's not forget that Roosevelt was a Democrat). There is no acknowledgement that Trump may come away with a joint view on resolving the issues in Syria or Eastern Europe. What is does include is a rehashing of the same liberal dialogue. Muller indicted 12 Russian hackers. Wow that is news worthy of page 26 not the front page nor inclusion in lead story. The election is over, move on! We are not divided in our views with that of Western Europe. What has occurred and has been long overdue is the recognition that the US has paid way more than its fair share. and it's time for our partners to pay up. The whole concept of the EU was to form 1 economy and 1 voice that would benefit all members. We have a term for that that perhaps the liberal left has forgotten, "restraint of trade". What Trump is pushing for with our partners is a fair access to their markets.
2
This article has such poor historical perspective. For virtually the entire Obama presidency, Obama, Clinton and Kerry made resetting a Russian dialogue a centerpiece to the presidency.
3
Every word from his mouth, every time he ignores our intelligence agencies - he displays a level of treason no one dreamed a US president could reach. Of course, let’s not forget who’s truly to blame for allowing this cancer to reach a critical level - congressional Republicans who do nothing, absolutely nothing. And they know exactly what they’re contributing to. Register, help friends, family and neighbors register. Vote them all out because the fate of our country is at stake.
2
Trump and Putin will meet for an hour with no-one present but the interpreters? Why, so Trump can ask for a loan?
1
There are a number of pro-trump comments that meeting with Putin is a good thing, and if we had an informed and competent president whose primary interests were that of the democratic country he leads that might be true. I haven't seen an explanation of why it is necessary that trump meet alone with Putin, other than in this article that it is Putin's preference. Since trump is a bold-faced liar how do we who still wish to live in a democracy find out what was discussed?
"That order includes Russia playing a central role, instead of being treated like a pariah or a second-rate has-been." This is the point. The US has treated Russia as a pariah since the end of the Soviet Union and provoked everyone of the problems with Russia by first meddling in Russian elections in the 90s (and those of many other countries before and since), supporting an anti-Russian coup in Ukraine, and putting NATO on Russia's borders after having promised not to do so. So Putin is criticized for giving us back a dose of our own medicine. Despite this propaganda article in the NYT, which lacks any objectivity or truthful attempt to explain Russian foreign policy, the whole world will benefit by this meeting between Trump and Putin if a lessening of needlessly hostile intentions results -- despite the attempts to increase tensions by the leftover war hawks in the Republican and Democratic party establishments.
2
If the press published a picture of Putin & Trump in naked embrace nothing would happen in Congress.
Trump is a man who:
-refused to release his tax returns
-while campaigning called on Russia to hack Hilary's emails, they did the same day
-has not separated from his 'businesses', has used the office to enrich himself blatantly,
-has called white supremacists good people,
-has met with multiple Russian intelligence/diplomatic officials in the Oval Office without media or Democrats present,
-has passed on Israeli tradecraft to those same Russians,
-has insulted our Intelligence Community, Allies, NATO, UN, G7, the best free press in the world, former US Presidents, all three of his wives,
-has named to his administration people with no skills, no background experience whose only credential is connection to the Kochtapus or the "religious' Right,
-who cannot tell a truth.
Working with a Congress who/whose/which:
-behavior toward our first black President and his wife was abhorrent,
-refused to even hold hearings on that President's pick for an open Supreme Court seat,
-received over $30M funneled from Russian through the NRA,
-RNC sanctioned, organized and administered use/payment for hacked/stolen emails,
-has done nothing to protect our election system from future attack,
-party shrugs at Russia's annexation of Crimea from of a sovereign state,
-gave billionaires more billions,
-says there is no climate change,
You really think there will be any repercussions?
I am appalled by this meeting, especially the one-on-one. Why is this President cozying up to an authoritarian after stiffing our democratic allies? I do not trust him and suspect ulterior motives related to his businesses and loans he has received, most probably from Russian sources (we won't know until we see his tax returns). But it is clear that Putin exercises an otherwise inexplicable hold on him that does not bode well for the US or the West in general. You don't have to be a psychic to see this. It is in front of our faces.
One can only hope that a democratic majority is returned to the House and/or Senate in November. Only then will the requisite investigations be marshalled and records (e.g., tax returns) subpoenaed. It will be a constitutional mess, but we must get to the bottom of this weirdness.
1
its sad when a US President would rather trust the word of a former KGB intelligence officer. whats the point of briefing Trump with intel reports about Russia's involvement during the election?
1
"Just Sitting Down With Trump, Putin Comes Out Ahead." That is surely Putin's agenda; I'm not so sure it isn't Trump's as well.
1
Donald and Putin are bent virtual mutual destruction of the world order. Putin proceeds in the interests of the oligarchy. Donald has no policy. He is conducting himself in his personal best interests, violating his oath of office and any allegiance we expect him to have to the United States. The Republicans fear crossing him in the belief that they will lose his deeply misinformed, deceived base. We need a government in exile. We need to assure our allies that Donald neither speaks nor acts for us, and that they can expect a full restoration of U.S. support when this deeply misguided Administration is ousted in national elections.
1
Once again backstage:
Wrong. Trump exposed the EU for what it is--a happy band of slackers feeding off the US via the Pentagon et al. and by doing so enabling their social fiscal policies to benefit, while the US taxpayer got nothing. If Putin won something from it, so what. Time to bring the troops home.
2
What gets me is Trump supporters who say they don't like him personally but they like what he's doing. They like this?
2
I've always wondered about Trump's intelligence. How can it be said that a man who rose to the Presidency of the United states, could be inept or unintelligent. But as I watched his performance at the Helsinki press conference with Putin, it is hard to imagine he has any intelligence at all. He certainly didn't understand many of the issues, as Putin talked above him. Many of his responses were nothing more than those given by a four year old who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Whatever the case, he certainly is not up to the job of US President. How can the people of our country be so blind to his short comings?,
2
It's a new world boys and girls. If anyone doesn't think we are directly competing with the EU, they have their heads in the sand. Granted, Putin would like to see the EU broken up for different reasons than Trump. China, EU, and the USA are all fighting for economic survival. It's a competitive world.
Just take a look at Africa - everybody is there trying to get their piece of that pie right now.
Mr.Trump will not defend the United States and its institutions- there is a case for Impeachment.If Mr.Pompeo, Mr.Bolton and Mr.Kelly cannot advise a president to stand with the United States they need to resign.We do not want a traitor in the Oval Office-this dangerous situation cannot continue.We have been invaded by Mr.Putin and Mr Trump welcomes it!
1
What we have here is a suspension of disbelief.
2
Does this mean that Trump has made it possible to get those big, furry, Russian hats really cheap this coming winter on Amazon?
2
The mass media seethes at the notion that Trump could succeed.
2
Even Fox is jumping ship now, but I think Trump handled himself well until he went over the deep end on Hillary’s servers and emails. His mention of Strzok only helps Strzok. I think the first part of the conference where both leaders talked about the future was more relevant than when they started dredging up the past. It seemed unnecessary. Unfortunately what is said last makes the bigger impression.
I just watched and listened to the most Un-American display by an American President in the history of my country.
Donald Trump sided with Vladimir Putin and the Russian's against our own Intelligence Agency's, the FBI and Robert Mueller's investigation and repeat no one from his campaign have been found to do anything wrong.....5 members and some pleaded guilty.
This was a disgraceful performance by an American President, Donald Trump is an embarrassment to this country, and a filty stain on every man and woman who have ever given their lives for democracy.
1
Trump will do all he can to appease Putin because Trump is beholden to Russia at least monetarily and possibly through blackmail of what has transpired in the past. In the meantime the GOP will remain silent and let democracy die as long as it can retain power. Add to the mix a population of ignorant and incurious citizens and it spells the beginning of an autocratic nation.
1
By now, we have read that Putin has come out ahead by more than "just sitting down" with Trump. This fraud of a president has thrown our country under the bus. He has and continues to sacrifice you and me for the sake of his pathological ego and inherent amorality. We are nothing, this democracy is nothing.
Putin could not have found a better prey than Trump. The weak and diseased beasts of nature are always captured and devoured by the most vicious of their kind. We are experiencing this paradigm in real time. How much more does this once strong nation of ours have to endure before it is too late?
1
Why should any country trust America now that we know whose side Trump
Is on?
1
THE THUG’S STRATEGY
It seems that people always want to ascribe strategic brilliance to those who are merely ruthless. But once you decide to abandon shame and ethics to power and have effectively killed off your own conscience as well as your opponents, then you are capable of doing what the rest of the world is not capable of: becoming comfortable with the evil you see in the mirror.
So it is with Vladimir Putin. He is not brilliant; he is merely evil. Since he is willing to go places that other psyches are not willing to go, and do things that other consciences are not willing to do, he is capable of accomplishing things that other leaders are not usually able to accomplish. It’s the code of dictators and tyrants throughout history. Might for them is not so much the right thing as the only thing. And they usually succeed. For a time. But when that time comes to an end, their end is brutal.
We look forward to the day when the thug killer from Russia suffers from the same brutality he has so frequently inflicted upon others. But it will not be on this day, and not with this president, who seems to be as intoxicated with his own relationship with power before the mirror telling him every day that he is not as strong as the thug from Russia. Which makes him a wannabe thug. And at the moment "the land of the free" is the country supporting him.
Until the day when it all becomes clear and everything turns.
That is our hope for real and wannabe thugs everywhere.
2
Trump's statement that the US and Russia were equally to blame for the election meddling is the international equivalent of his shameful assignment of equal blame to the protestors and white supremacists in Charlottesville.
1
trump is certainly hiding something just as he's hiding his tax returns. The public it appears could care less about these things and he knows it. But what the public would care about is uncontroversial evidence attesting to trump's proclivities for salacious sex in full view. Doubtless this is what Putin has on trump. It's a KBG gimmick going way back, and trump is certainly naive enough to be caught up in it.
2
Is there doubt in any reasonable person's mind that Trump's obsequious attitude toward Putin stems from something other than blackmail?
Putin has Trump by his nether parts, and what we are seeing is the president of the United States being manipulated like a marionette.
Forget "Crooked Hillary." It's "Treasonous Trump" -- and that appellation is actually going to be proven true in the very near future.
1
Donald Trump is a complete embarrassment to the American people.
I listened in astonishment as Donald Trump takes sides with Vladimir Putin and Russia against his own, our own Intelligence Agency's who have laid out the evidence of Russian meddling in our election.
Donald Trump is DISGRACE TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!
2
How weak are we as a country under Republican rule, that we have a pathological liar, blatant traitor, Donald Trump in the White House and the Republican Congress sits on their hands. Donald Trump is doing vast amount harm to our democracy and country, and the cowardly Republicans frankly don't care. This is beyond amazing.
1
And the Republican Congress does nothing. Are they senile? Do they believe themselves powerless? Or do they support Trump's treason?
No matter. The remedy is the same. Vote Democrat in November.
2
WOW, who’s side is mr t on? Am I the only person who thinks his behavior is approaching treason? Putin is our adversary but he’s treated by mr t like a best friend “bro”. In another NYT article it was said he was in Scotland to prepare for his meeting with p. What did that entail? Gift shopping for his special “bro”. Give me a break, please.
2
Has the great negotiator sold Alaska back to the Russians yet for $1?
3
Hilary was a Sibyl laying out how Trump might try to dismantle Nato and become the puppet of Putin during one of their debates. Trump is a weak leader, having no idea about world politics or conducting himself honorably among world leaders but he knows how to plug his failing golf courses during news conferences. Pitiful!
1
When the USSR was collapsing the US helped install Boris Yeltsin, an incompetent drunk as the new leader. Now Putin gets to return the favor. Except Trump is a bumbling incompetent without being a drunk.
1
Do we need anymore evidence that Trump is betraying his country? He is a traitor.
3
When will the pilgrimages to Helsinki start, millions of us visiting the site of the death of America?
1
Can we not jump to the punch line, convict Trump of treason, and move on? Please.
2
One thing to keep in mind. When Trump bad mouths someone, it is always behind their back. To their face he is disgustingly complimentary. He always takes two sides with people he doesn’t like so when the negative comments are reported he can claim fake news. With Putin he is complimentary behind his back and to his face. This can only mean one thing. When you admire your enemy and chastise your allies, you are a traitor.
2
Trump says the investigation of election meddling is a disaster for this country - astounding asinine arrogance and he is applauded for it by his base - the disaster for this country is the meddling itself - not the investigation.
1
The press conference was a FARCE! Traitor Trump sides with a murderous dictator! Impeach this traitor NOW!
4
Lyin' Donald is a master of Hitler's Instructions: "If you tell a big enough lie and repeat it over enough, it will be believed." It got him elected. It is not big enough to deal with world leaders. We need to Make America Great Again as it was before this fool arrived on the scene and that means voting out each/voting against every GOP'er who supports him...No Exceptions. The November vote may well decide whether America will simply collapse.
2
From Russia, With Love:
Dasvidaniya, Amerika.
1
Just watched the Trump/Putin press conference and it struck me that what we were witnessing was the new new-world-order. A world order that will be controlled by strongmen leaders instead of governments representing their citizens' interests.
This is reminiscent of how mob bosses ruled the city streets in the roaring twenties of last century. Only today it is Trump and Putin as the two of the largest/strongest bosses. Xi, Kim, Erdogan, Assad, the House of Saud, Duterte, all falling somewhere down the pyramid of power. A small cohort who will be carving up the pie, calling the shots and ruling the world to their collective benefit.
3
I happened to be driving to my office and heard the press conference and was encouraged by the diplomatic approach of the presidents. A good, new beginning it seemed to me.
2
You’re clearly joking. I would hope.
1
"Putin Has Already Come Out Ahead",
thanks to comrade Trump
9
And the republican party is silent as our values, ethics and democracy fade away. Not to mention our global standing.
11
No one i ahead or behind in Trump -Putin meeting. It is all the media talking. Trump is only bringing the truth out. One cannot hate another not knowing all the facts. Trump is trying to build a better working relationship with Russia.It will help to maintain order and peace in the world. Our congress goes by the routines and need to look head for future of humanity. Trump should be praised not following the stale methods of dealing with world leaders.
3
This meeting between Putin and Trump makes me feel abjectly powerless. I detest that in myself, but like millions of others here and across the rest of the world my fear is of what doing anything or doing nothing might mean personally or socially to me. Never before (and quite possibly never again) had Trump’s (and any other domestic form or embodiment bias, intimidation, or greed) been so transparent, and responding this way only signifies an end in itself.
4
The war mongers are apoplectic – the mere hint of a civilised discussion between the Presidents of USA and Russia is anathema. So much better to send young men and women to get killed fighting in some pointless war for the sole benefit of the Military Industrial complex. It seems that Most American Senators and Members of Congress have pledged allegiance not to the USA but to the war industry.
8
Robert Jennings,
The only war mongers are Republicans. Republicans increased military spending while giving their rich cronies huge tax breaks at the expense of social security and Medicare to which funding is being cut in the 2019 budget. Republicans are killing the working and middle class by removing tax credits and deductions to alleviate their tax burden.
Any discussion between Russia and the US should be out in the open. Trump lacks the intellect and cunning to successfully negotiate one on one with a former KGB intelligence officer. That Trump came out of the meeting blaming the US and Russia equally for RUSSIAN meddling in our election demonstrates he just doesn’t get it or doesn’t want to!
Trump can’t see beyond his own narcissistic egotistical needs. He’s allowing further meddling in the upcoming elections by allowing Putin to play his trump card.
1
I'm watching the live conference and the part about the Russian investigation, Trump couldn't even tell the truth. instead blaming democrats lol
11
Trump's tariffs, loose-canon diplomacy, and divisive treatment of European allies is not just fracturing ally relationships; these Trumpian hallmarks are also fracturing European economic, political, and social stability and border security.
Like hungry tigers, Putin and Russia are lying in wait for just the right moment to pounce.
I used to think the worst enemy of Planet Earth was man's carbon emissions. Nope. Earth's worst enemy is Trump.
7
Trumps goal is to legitimize all dictators. And then become one himself.
8
Putin's attempts in the election was to sow distrust in the outcome of the presidential election. To that end our "progressive" media has performed for Putin beyond his wildest dreams.
1
DT is burnt toast. Congress is spineless. We will prevail.
7
Putin was KGB and hasn't forgotten how to manipulate. And he has the world's easiest stooge to work with. I have little doubt that Putin has never forgiven the downfall of the Soviety Union and would love nothing more than to see the U.S. undergo the same.
5
Could it be that there may be a change to review our narrative?
If you were leading a country of 140Million people with the largest land mass under one nation in the world (Russia)- how would you view the U.S. and it's actions?
I was thinking of how an alternative narrative may be, without vilification in our discussions? Not sure if it's possible, but simply considering the adage of people who live in glass houses... not throw rocks. When I consider our strategy with that of Russia's - isn't ours the more aggressive one? And if it is, and we all think it is a great strategy - let's at least speak in those terms. It would provide the right context vs this finger pointing mentality that is prevalent in the comments sections
2
Trump is a showman. He never made a secret of this. The Trump voters may have believed he is also a great business man who would lift their lives to the status they thought they had in the 1950s, before minorities started to complain, before Japan, Germany and China started selling lots of exports in the USA, and when they believed they had better lives. But Trump is only a showman, not a miracle worker. The meetings with Kim and Putin are merely shows, for entertainment. But no positive accomplishments.
5
"MOSCOW — When President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia sits down with President Trump in Helsinki, Finland, on Monday for a meeting he has long wanted, he will already have accomplished virtually everything he could reasonably hope for."
Yes, the same thing was said when Mr. Trump sat down with Mr. Kim; Mr. Kim had already won. Mr. Trump is so easily played by these despots he admires it simply becomes mind-boggling.
We have laws that vet potential candidates for certain positions in our government to better assure they cannot be blackmailed. Unfortunately we have no laws to vet presidential candidates psychologically.
Mr. Trump, I believe can be 'bought-off' in two ways. The first, and the most traditional way, is via money. The second in Mr. Trump's case is through extreme flattery. It is this second trait that got Mr. Trump to the table with Mr. Kim and will always keep Mr. Trump going back to Mr. Putin in the future. They give him what the American people refuse to; unabashed flattery and love. It is what he seeks and will never get in the U. S.
It is both pathetic from a human standpoint and dangerous from a national security standpoint.
3
I am glad we have a president that doesn't say "I don't like you so I am going to take my bat and ball and go home." As is found in "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu, "Keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer."
2
Wonder what they said. Mueller’s team sent over some workers to do some wiring, but Putin was having none of it.
3
After learning 12 Russian agents working for Putin were indicted for attacking and undermining our nation, Trump merely complained that as a result of this very investigation, our relationship with Russia has never been worse.
Former CIA director John Brennan asks:
'Why did Trump meet 1 on 1 with Putin?
What might he be hiding from Bolton, Pompeo, Kelly, & the American public?
How will Putin use whatever Trump could be hiding to advantage Russia & hurt America?
Trump’s total lack of credibility renders spurious whatever explanation he gives.'
7
Trump must be investigated seriously as a Russian operative, selected by Putin to run the U.S. into the ground. Trump's statements about Europe as a foe, totally dissing NATO, making Canada an enemy and embracing North Korea are all happening before our eyes and our Congress are like meek lambs refusing to stand up to him. Politics and the Republican party take preference over our country and national security. Where do our generals and military chiefs stand on this behavior. And now a closed door meeting with the Russian dictator? Wake up, America!!
7
Trump went to Russia to ask Putin to help him with the midterm elections.... please hack in favor of the GOP.
So, are Trump supporters ever going to wake up and see that the GOP and Trump are working for Putin? Follow the money...just look at how DJT got his latest real estate deals. He borrowed from RUSSIAN banks!
9
What kind of President of the United States, blames his own country for the relationship with Russia?
Donald Trump is a disgusting piece of work, and the most Un-American President to ever sit in the Oval Office, a total disgrace to this country and he dishonors to any member of the armed forces that defends our country.
15
Clearly, the creepiest foreign governments - in Russia, Iran, North Korea and China - miss the ease with which they maniupulated the 21st century's most in-over-his-head leader, Barack Obama.
The arrival of actual America-loving leadership is the ultimate party-stopper, right after the Times' idiotic gay-Putin cartoon and anything Sasha Baron Cohen ever dreams up on his own.
Despite the Mueller team's attempt to smear the President on Friday with the wascally Wussian indictments, this president keeps making foreign leaders guess and wonder where they simply rolled Mr. Obama whenever it was convenient.
The others must STILL be jealous of how much Iran's mullahs connived out of the amateur Obama.
2
You said it, and you give a much needed perspective from abroad.
Someone needs to ask trump and Putin where their countries would be if Roosevelt had sat down and talked to Hitler.
3
This is a great article. With all what has been said here, it is difficult to understand what exactly is our POTUS thinking? How he is treating our alliance with Europe, NATO and the established shared values between the two sides, has become a big question.
Russia is our adversary, and so is the leader of that country. Russia is accused of having interfered in the US General Elections of 2016. Recently, several Russian intelligence officers were indicted. The Special Counsel investigations continue. Even if Mr. Trump refuses to acknowledge or respect the objective and purpose of the Special Counsel, the best he could do is, as POTUS, to allow the completion of the Special Counsel investigation. Until then, anything to do with Russia, or the country's leader, should have been held on a 'pending file'.
2
My guess is that the major issues being addressed in Helsinki by Putin and Trump focus less on concerns about Europe and the NATO alliance and more on Trump seeking a quid pro quo for Trump's plans for Iran. Trump and his deep thinkers know that without neutralizing Russian support for the Iranians actions in the Middle East there can be no safe way that the triumvirate of the US, the Saudis and the Israelis can launch their campaign against the Mullahs.
Just what Trump Inc is willing to bargain away for this (in his Administration's view) once in a life time opportunity, is unclear. However if the Trumpians craven behavior during the creation of their grand bargain with the North Koreans is any indication (which seemingly included the standing down of our military in S. Korea and a dominant role for the Kim regime in the reunification of the Korean peninsula ) then the smaller countries which broke away from the Soviet Union after it crumbled-like the Baltic States and Ukraine- ought to be very, very worried.
1
And if Trump did not talk to Putin, the charge would be that Trump is afraid. Can't do this, can't do that...
Oh well, the Electoral College still works.
"Oh well, the Electoral College still works."
For who?
4
For Flyover Country.
After giving Syria to Russians and Iranians U.S. President Trump should be having friendly relations with Russia.
Seemingly, Trump and the GOP seek to destroy the EU, NATO and all other alliances which have a common democratic foundation. And of course, don't forget about the climate. A dog eat dog world without any long-term ideas and goals to keep this planet and us people safe. Oy vey
3
Democrats always are hunting for a bogeyman. In any case, the USSR started the destabilization process long ago, when they introduced various now-mainstream concepts into the academic world. Those communist sympathizers were unbelievably useful to the communists-in-name-only Soviets.
The Soviet playbook was straight out of Plato and Aristotle: attack the myths underlying a society and it eventually collapses.
I think it's pretty obvious after Donald Trump has publicly blamed our own country for the problems with Russia, that he is either Putin Stooge or a Russian Mole, but he is definitely not someone who is concerned with the best interest of our country.
What does Putin have on Trump or the Trump family?
4
Actually Putin won as far back as Jan. 20, 2017 when Trump took office with a little help from his (foreign) friends and a lot of help from Republican enablers -- a Constitutional officer, Speaker Ryan, and Senate Majority Leader McConnell. Ryan has shown more commitment to chasing rodents from his vehicle than checking and balancing an autocratic president; while McConnell is too busy taking victory laps to stop or even slow down Trump's apprenticeship under Putin.
3
Starting a trade war with close allies? What if Trump is right and we've been getting the bottom end of the stick? He's ruffling up our "close allies" a bit to even out the playing field, and there's nothing wrong with that. In fact it's called leadership. But you keep it up with your take on things. One day you'll get it right.
This article assumes the contest is between Russia and the US.
In fact, as others have pointed out here, Trump is meeting with Putin in the interest of Trump. And hasn't everything he's done in the Oval Office (and likely his entire life) been about himself, his fragile ego, his gold.
Putin and Trump are two kleptocrats that have harnessed the resources of their respective countries for their own enrichment.
I'm sure the Helsinki summit will be a huge success for both; they are brothers in crime.
There is a slight difference, however. it's just that American democracy keeps limiting Trump. But he seems to work around limits of presidential power very well. Congress is too weak and/or corrupt to control him and now we're threatened with Kavenough (who believes in the primacy of the Executive branch) on the Supreme Court. So we are losing the second of the two check on the President, as wisely laid out in the Constitution. (They expressly wanted a democracy, not a monarchy.)
And we continue this rapid descent into kleptocracy, from which there is no easy escape. Just let me know when we shoud start learning Russian.
2
The world needs more meetings of the world's leaders. Maybe if mingled together more often they would learn to enjoy each other, maybe learn the depth of each others problems, and maybe best of all that together they can help each other solve problems. I am sure it would shock then all of that possibility. Of course egos get in the way, 'I am better and more powerful than you' attitudes keep them apart. I hope someday, highly improbable, never to happen for sure, but it would be nice if our "stable genius POTUS" could show some worldly, prodigious, persona, like Putin. Many critize Putin, but you can't take away his public style. He projects confidence, a trait everyone in the world admires.
Perfect indeed!
And a cobra is a beautiful and elegant snake too!
Where and what exactly is the common ground that Trump wants to find with Russia and Putin? Is it more laundered money and a Trump Tower in Moscow? Because Russians aren't leaving Syria or Crimea, there is no walking back their intervention in Ukraine, and Putin is not going to free jailed dissidents and journalists.
Meanwhile, Trump is ignoring Russian efforts to elect him president and the hacking into U.S. voting systems to interfere in one of the bedrock principles of democracy. And Trump’s comments blaming the United States for poor relations with Russia should have Congressional Republicans seething with anger. But no, just crickets. These are dark times indeed for the United States and the free world.
3
Waiting for Trump and Putin to emerge. This is what’s killing the Dems. It could have been Hillary. It could have been theirs, but it’s Trump all Trump.
Russia ia about as prepared for a world war as Honduras or Malawi. They MIGHT get 8 or 10 bombers into the sky at once and their rocket forces have been starving upkeep money for a generation.
If Trump was a Russian agent, he could scarcely be doing any more to advance Russian interests than he is now. It boggles the mind. Putin's goals are to undermine the West, weaken NATO, destabilize the EU and destroy US credibility/ standing around the World. Trump is doing a bang up job on all of these.
Why is Trump doing what he is doing? I really hope Mueller gets to the bottom of this. And soon.
9
Trump should have canceled this meeting. There is no doubt. However, I felt the same way when Obama tried to work with Putin and made promises (with open mic, by mistake) that he would be able to accomplish the destruction of some of the US nuclear stockpiles. And then he and Hillary sold Putin 20% of US uranium. ???? Where is the outrage for the US position with Russia going back 10 years? Again, Trump should have not gone to this meeting, should not support anything that Russia does at all at this point. But why has the US been playing with Russia at all over the last decade? Is the US afraid of Putin, trying to be diplomatic, or ? I find it odd that the 12 Russian intelligence agents were indicted last week after knowing and having all the evidence to know that they were guilty months ago.
If Obama had embraced Putin the way Trump did, questioned his own intelligence agencies, and labeled long time allies 'foes', he would had been impeached by the GOP for treason. Trump does it all we get is silence and compliance from the Right.
4
Why exactly is Germany purchasing their oil and natural gas requirements from Russia when they could be giving this business to the U.S.? Wouldn't it be better to pay the U.S. and reduce the balance of trade imbalance that Germany holds over America? Trump brought it up, but this piece of economic common sense is beyond the ability of The Times to comprehend.
I am starting to wonder if I am missing something with Trump. All the lies and insults he spews to his allies and were once friends of the US, are disregarded by his base. Even the leaders of the Republican Party give Donald a pass.
Again, am I missing some attribute about Donald that only those who believe can only see?
4
Trump will be too ignorant and vain to know he was played.
We've imposed sanctions but I still haven't heard they are being enforced. It they're not enforced the whole question is moot.
I've also read that the expelled diplomats can be replaced anytime Russia chooses. The state department invited Russia to replace them.
Putin has not come out ahead unless you consider ramping up for WW3 "ahead".
Good People of the world who value democracy, social/economic justice for all and religious freedom MUST step up and fight like hell to preserve the kind of world WE want.
The vast majority of people do not share the "Putin-
Con Don-Netanyahu-Erdogan-Sisi-Duerte-Bannon-democracy destroying-inhertied/stolen wealth money masters" vision for the world.
Time for some heads to roll.
2
I expect both presidents to announce START IV. Big nuclear warheads are becoming obsolete as both countries are changing fast to smaller, more flexible and more realistic (in terms of threat) nuclear weapons. It will give Trump a big win ahead of the 2018 elections and save Putin money keeping thousands of big warheads and rockets safe and operational.
2
Unlike the NK talks, no prearranged agreement here, nothing ready-made. The press conference will probably signal long-range goals and the need to keep talking.
Any prearranged agreement with NK was one sided, and nothing was achieved. With this meeting, Vlad can only win, but USA loses. Again.
4
Putin has been "ahead" since the day he helped Donald Trump get elected. Every action on the international scene before and since then can be viewed as payback from changing the pro-Ukrainian plank to one favoring Russia at the Republican National Convention, to surreptitiously having Mike Flynn work to eliminate sanctions against them, to his unwillingness to accept the unanimous view of our intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the election (now corroborated by the Special Counsel), to incessant efforts to end the Russia investigation, to trade wars with China and our NAFTA and E.U. allies, to bashing NATO, to pushing hard for Britain to leave the E.U. in Brexit and further weaken the western alliance. The "law of parsimony" demands that we wake up and finally realize that our foreign policy is in the hands of Vladimir Putin.
3
Meeting in private with the leader of a country interfering with our elections, with only an interpreter -- how do we define that behavior?
Will Mueller be able to question the interpreter?
4
The problem with Trump has been and is, there are NEVER any consequences for his behavior and double talk tweets. From May, Merkel, etc, name the list.
Here at home the dissonance between Dan Coates and the blinking red light from Russian interference and the infantile words of this incompetent, bumbling, treasonous, and mendacious president demands action from whom?
The checks and balances do not appear to be working. The chief representative of us, American citizens, is not doing his job, he is in fact selling us down the river, with enthusiasm it seems!
2
A slap in the face to previous generations of Americans who gave their lives and treasure to contain the Soviets.
. .
A slap in the face to every American alive- living in reduced circumstances with sub-standaed healthcare, infrastructure, education, and communications, largely due to the decades of outsize spending on the military whose primary goal was to contain the Soviets.
. .
Make America Grovel Again
6
Your headline assumes diplomacy is a zero-sum game. Both sides can win. It is so sad that we have returned to a cold war footing with Russia ... with the NYT leading the way the anti-Russia sentiment in the United States just keeps on growing.
I am a conspiracy theory skeptic, but Trump's behavior is baffling and seems to go beyond the usual explanations of narcissism and misogynism. There is a good piece in Saturday's Financial Times on the financing of Trump Tower Toronto that provides one possible explanation.
7
Indeed. Without firing a shot, Putin has gotten his Manchurian Candidate, Trump, to trash the Western Alliance and NATO, dismember international trade and climate agreements, divide Americans like no time since the Civil War, and have the USA retreat from the world stage. He is dancing behind the doors in Helsinki.
3
Let's face facts. Trump is Putin's sycophant, his toady, his lackey. Trump calls our allies "foes," while he actively seeks favor with the former KGB agent who interfered with our 2016 election, and who recently used chemical weapons on the soil of our closest ally, Great Britain.
If you're not outraged, you're clearly not paying attention.
2
The fact there is so much concern and speculation here about Trump vs Putin is in itself crazy. A US leader seemingly more in sync with Russia than with the West, with no-one quite sure what Trump is going to do and doubts that he can even provide (or even, wants to provide) a strong barrier to Putin’s encroaching hegemony - this is not normal. Will he fall asleep at the switch so much that Putin believes he can get away with anything?
1
Dictatorships are simple. That's why I think Trump is drawn to them. Democracy is complicated, that's why I think Trump is intolerant of them.
7
Let me add "I don't think Trump does well with complicated problems".
5
"Just sitting down with Trump, Putin comes out ahead". American exceptionalism at its most absurd. Nobody comes out ahead sitting down with an immoral psychopath. Trump is a global nuisance to put up with, not to be honored by. Any world leader who sits down with this monster doesn't come out ahead, rather, he or she comes out soiled and diminished.
3
that theUS confers some sort of status by meeting someone is an absurd and arrogant notion.
The excerpts say that "By attacking Europe and starting a trade war with close allies, Mr. Trump has already advanced Mr. Putin’s agenda, analysts say". In fact what happened is contrary to what the analysts say. By strengthening NATO through higher military spending and by threatening to cancel gas pipeline agreement between Russia and Germany, Trump has advanced his agenda far better. Trade war with allies is a separate issue that will advance another agenda of Trump. You can get any number of analysts who would say anything you want to hear from camps who do not like Trump and his policies, but that doesn't mean they are right.
4
After sending a sonic boom of hostility toward our transatlantic alliance, on stark display is Trump's lack of preparation and eagerness.
He's taken the bait. It's high stakes politics, with no indication America's elections will be any more secure. Allies sold down the river, Putin is fully embraced.
3
Granted that Trump is the proverbial bull in the diplomatic China shop and that he is creating chaos and problems where they didn't exist. However, I am not convinced of the victories that are being ascribed to Putin because of Trump's visit. They may be used internally to convince people that Russia has not been isolated, but, internationally, we know that this fumbling action by Trump is still another example of Trump's efforts to keep Russia from spilling the beans on him and his activities. It is an ephemeral moment that will be inserted in long catalogue of Trump's errors. It will change nothing unless he will remove sanctions against Russia or accept publicly Russia's take-over in Crimea. And if he does that, I expect that even cowardly Republicans will raise their voices if not their courage.
2
"“We are witnessing something surprising, something that even the Soviet Union was not able to accomplish: Divide the U.S. and Western Europe. It didn’t work then, but it seems to be working with Mr. Trump now,”
Trump speaks for no one except himself. A clear and wise majority of American voters rejected him. It is clear that he does not consult with those who do represent Americans to develop his policy positions.
Why is he still being treated as if this lying grifter, installed over our objections by Republican Electors, represents the United States? He does not.
Americans stand firmly with our allies.
10
Trump's apology tour begins
Russian response: "WE AGREE !"
The Democrats better make hay about the Apology Tour ....
6
The sad fact is, the Republican party is quite happy to have Russian spies help them win elections. They have obviously no qualms about subverting democracy, even though they pay it lip service. That's why they will never impeach Donald Trump, traitor though he is.
9
You could never put Obama in a room alone with anyone. Putin would eat him alive, but Trump can handle himself. That’s how it works one leader pitted against the other no babysitter needed.
2
“Russia is not disappointed with Trump, but disappointed that the American system does not give the same powers to the president as the Russian system does”.
A good reason not to give him those powers.
5
Sitting with Putin the liar in chief .......Blames the USA for a bad relationship with Russia!!! Absolutely NO PUSH BACK. A reinforcement of Trumps words and dangerous turn of events for this country. Where are the Republican voices. Trump ignores Mueller's report as his minions work hard at home to unseat Rosenstein and Mueller.
Discounting the Mueller indictments of, what is it now, 12 new Russian players, hackers, thieves, disrupting and altering our election. Emboldened to continue. This is a cyber war plus territorial ground, make no mistake.
He does not speak for the USA. He is compromising us and allowing, nay welcoming Russia to take, steal from the world. Our Intel, Ukraine, Syria,
He is a traitor, why is he allowed to continue on this path to our demise and give, give away our hard earned defenses against Putin.
Remember Lavrov and Kisliak as they entered the Oval Office last year. The smiling the fawning? Nothing has changed except Trump and his family are more complicit than ever.
10
Just putting this headline on the cover of the NYT:
"Just Sitting Down With Trump, Putin Comes Out Ahead"
Gives the impression that Putin comes out ahead. News analysis belongs on the opinion page.
5
Lets give Obama credit for the Iran deal. At least it was something he got done till Trump dismantled it. Too bad Obama used only his phone and his pen to get it through. Then we are left with his long list of policy failures—e.g. Egypt, Libya, Syria, Israel, Saudi Arabia and China. The list is not only embarrassing but a personal tragedy. In the end his legacy was Trump. A bitter pill to swallow, but Obama and the Dems can only blame themselves.
1
All Republican politicians who continue to remain silent about this presidential impostor, are fully complicit as Trump himself. No amount of double-speak can conceal Republican cowardice and self-serving dereliction of authentic public service.
13
In the 80's, I lived through the Cold War, scared too dead of the bomb and death coming from Russia. We didn't trust the Russians at all. How do we trust them now when they have stuck their fingers in our elections? People, get your heads out of the sand. Donald Trump is Vladimir Putin 's puppet. Don't ever trust the Russians.
7
Bobbi Jo--At least, back then, we knew our enemy, and we knew where all the warheads were. Now, they're scatter all around the old federation countries, and now maybe in the middle east. We were much safer with the Soviet Union than we are, now.
2
The current order of things is due to historic hostility towards Hillary Clinton by women, the press, and a fraction of the democratic party who put her not even at the same level, but at one lower than trump. Can the country survive all this? That's the $64 million dollar question, but the US ransacked so many countries before that maybe the only way to pay its dues is from inside.
3
Trump is a traitor and every Republican member of Congress enabling him is too.
22
What do we have to gain by this meeting?
3
A lot. You see, our POTUS is having a performance review from his boss and taking further instructions as to which area of our fragile democracy should be wrecked next.
11
Remember how President Bush was received when he said he looked into Putin’s eyes and said he could trust him? Now for what Trump might say. . . .
7
Read Charles M. Blow's article this morning. It begs the question stated: we've been directly attacked by a mortal enemy. Why is this president and this congress not doing anything about it?
22
Yeah, exactly. Why are we doing this?? What do we need Russian co-operation on? I don't quite understand the need for this. Judging by President Putin's expressions, neither does he.
4
You are right. He bashes Merkel and May, rails against the EU at the first chance, the breakfast. Contrast this with his good boy and very polite demeanor with Putin, the guy who systematically and deliberately has ordered the subverting of American democracy. Trump is a traitor, and should be jailed. Imagine a closed door meeting with Putin after all we know. This is the Twilight Zone.
21
There's a disconnect here (so many actually). On the one hand, Mr. Trump “...wants to bring home a message that Russia is not America’s enemy, not a diabolical power,” and yet he treats America's traditional allies with disdain and requests NATO to increase their collective military spending up to 4%. Why is more military might required if Russia is our ally. Not that I want to see any of the world's nations set against one another. Understood and appreciated that Russia were our allies in WWII and that that war was won in no small part due to their great Eastern drive. But why this Trumpian hostility to closer democratic friends and disconnected outreach to autocracies? Who is Mr. Trump actually working for, to achieve what? It would be the stuff of an outrageous fictional novel if he were, in effect, a bought and paid for Russian operative. I think I might write that one once the rest of this outrageous (but dangerous) plot unfolds.
8
Call or write as many Congressmen as you can. Say they need to speak out against our weak, feckless president right now. Call both republican leaders and democratic ones!
13
Is there anyone who doesn't believe that Trump is conveying to Putin his thanks for the help in the last election and asking for it again in 2020 -- and possibly in the upcoming November contests? Closed door meeting? Off the record meeting? Come on, gimme a break.
20
Yet 95% of Republicans approve of Trump's job performance.
11
Where is Congress? You “patriotic” RepublicOns like McConnell, Rand Paul....
Your silence is scarily deafening.
Your lack of action treasonous.
15
McConnell and Ryan have neither the brains nor the courage to stand up to Trump, and Trump knows it. As the Congressional ship sinks further and further into irrelevance, McConnell and Ryan stand on the bridge pretending to be in charge. They seem to be oblivious to the fact that is plainly visible to everyone else: His Imperial Majesty, Donald J. Trump, has taken control of all U.S. government apparatus.
8
" Hillary Clinton was right: They really are deplorable."
Thank you, Paul-A, for casting this epithet in a different light. It has been taken to mean uneducated, ignorant, and unsophisticated.
You have broadened it to mean stupid and self-serving.
No one will ever know what Hillary Clinton meant by it, including HRC.
So it goes.....
2
Please government of Finland arrest these two megalomaniacs for crimes against humanity.
7
I hope Trump does not sell Alaska back.
2
No need to. Putin controls Trump and the whole US. Why would he settle for Alaska?
This just in from the department of hysteria -
He comes out "ahead," like there's a footrace? We don't need to know what transpires, because as far as the media is concerned, we lost. The headlines are probably already written.
It doesn't matter if they meet or not. It's what happens that matters. When Obama took Putin at his word and backed off the redline, that mattered, but I don't remember hysteria. I remember when Putin met with Obama and almost immediately thereafter, Russia was in Syria. That mattered. But no hysteria. I remember when Obama met with Medveded(?) and told him that he would be more "flexible" after the election. No hysteria. The reset button - no hysteria. When Russia took Crimea there was hysterai and Obama did . . . umm . . . what? And certainly people remember the debate in which Obama mocked Romney to media laughter about the crazy idea that Russia was an adversary.
Yes, Trump is a loose cannon on the rolling deck, the bull in the China shop. But, if he's tough on Noko the media panics - nuclear war coming!!! If he's nice, he's coddling dictators. What matters isn't who meets, but what is done.
And, remember there are more important things. Isn't the world supposed to end after Kavanaugh is confirmed? So why worry about this? I realize hysteria is a never exhausted spring, but save something for it.
4
But more people voted for Hilary. So the truth is that Trump wasn't man enough to get the better of of Secretary Clinton. He needed the Electoral College and Russia to do that for him.
2
The over-sized USA emblazoned on the white baseball cap worn by Trump during the CBS interview, captured the juvenile stature of our President almost perfectly. All that is required to complete the amazing ensemble is a propeller blade, spinning on the shaft standing tall & proud on the top of the hat. That would have been perfect!
11
Trump had The Queen wait for him after he had spent days insulting everyone of our allies. Since Trump is owned by Putin why should Putin be on time?.
Any GOP leader who doesn't speak out against this behavior by the Leader of the Free World should be voted out of office. In the old days they would be called traitors.
It is frightening the path this man is taking us down and no one is stopping it.
Didn't the Russians just kill a person in Britain, didn't Mueller give a very detailed release on Friday. What is wrong with this picture?.
8
The annexation of the Crimea is a fact. Done. Over. The time to act was when it happened, but Obama did nothing which Putin counted on. So that is off the table. There are other things to talk about which are happening now, like Russia’s growing influence in Iran and the Middle East again the result of Obama’s ineptitude and indecisiveness but still not too late to do something about. We shall see how all this turns out, but it is not easy to repair the damage done by Obama.
4
And Trump would have done, what? And how does weakening NATO "repair the damage"? Blame Obama (and Hillary) is not a very effective foreign policy but I guess it works for the Trump base.
4
In fact it was Putin who pushed for a meeting since Trump – against warning from advisers – called him in March to congratulate him on his re-election and invited him to the White House. Putin on various occasions in public reminded Trump of a getting together. When Trump during the G7 summit demanded for Russia’s re-admission, Putin seized on the occasion and urged for a meeting with his American stooge.
That Putin and Trump both want to meet, despite indictiments, ought to be seen as a slap in the face of the American intelligence agencies. Even if the two need to talk about the geopolitical challenges, they should have made the meeting more open, to dispel all doubts about Russian meddling.
5
Treat your friends like foes and your foes like friends.
That is Trump's foreign policy strategy.
Putin comes out ahead by meeting with Trump
as did Kim in North Korea. Trump comes out ahead
too because like Putin and Kim Trump can look important
without really doing much of anything.
Will there be substantive talks about key issues like
the Russian presence in Syria, Russia's annexation of
the Crimea and Russian meddling in the American election?
I doubt it very much and do not trust Trump.
Both Trump and Putin are con men and sideshow barkers
selling their snake oil to the world. They both share a love
of money and a lust for power and control. At least Putin has
some shred of public service and patriotism in that he
"fights for Mother Russia" and has a cause beyond himself.
Trump really cares for nobody and nothing but himself.
Get richer, make the deal. gain more power. That's
Trump's sole purpose and his only agenda---advance his
own interests above all others at the expense of everybody
else. Trump and Putin are two scam artists pulling the wool
over the eyes of America and the entire world. Beware America Trump bearing deals from Putin and Kim. It's all nothing
but a scam and a con game designed first and foremost
to benefit Trump and Putin. Then maybe Russia then
maybe America.
3
The logic behind the premise (that Putin comes out ahead in meeting with the US president) seems to suggest that the US president should never meet with its adversaries. I find it difficult to understand why this is beneficial to the US or to the rest of the world.
3
Reality check both leaders are missing the perfect time to form the federation earth . Usa an ussr could make some serous history an form more perfect union. Let people of earth free from mass destruction for all are childrens sake.
1
I truly appreciate your idealism, but such ideals don't exist on the agendas of either man.
Unfortunately, the world isn't ready for Star Fleet.
Sincerely,
From another Trekker.
As I write this Trump and Putin are talking privately. Dread washes over me. Trump really is Putin's Pawn, unable to defend the U.S.A. or decry Russian aggression.
Russia have won, and own America.
9
Trump campaign illegally colluded with Russia to get damaging information about Hillary, but USA have always colluded with candidates all over the world and even started wars to make sure the "US candidate" wins the election, or takes power if it is not a democracy! The real problem is that Democrat´s and Hillary´s servers were so easy to hack! Trump will never be impeached, even if the law demand that he should be, because the collusion was not organized enough!
Crimea already have a big Russian military base, and the population want to be a part of Russia, so USA and EU must forget about the illegal annexation!
The next step, that makes the illegal annexation irrelevant anyway, must be free trade between EU Ukraine and Russia, including relatively free movement of people in the big new free market! China and USA should also be welcome in this new free trade market, because free trade and free movement of people is what eliminate the risk a war!
2
If what was in the DNC/Hillary emails, such as rigging their primary to coronate Hillary, wasn’t so anti-democratic/embarrassing , the theft & release would not have been so impactful, would it?
And, who wants an election-rigger to be their POTUS anyway?
2
Donald Trump sees his presidency as one victory after another and each of them is false. He claims his meeting with Kim as a victory. Nothing good came from that meeting. He will claim his meeting with Putin as a victory. Nothing good will be accomplished. Trump is the ultimate scam artist and until he can no longer evade the long arm of Mueller he will continue to gloat how he wins everything.
7
I realize that the Trump, as president, still has the rights of the First Amendment and free speech, but where is the line between his responsibility to us to represent the US best interests and being private citizen who can downgrade the US and perhaps even border on treason? His tweets this morning actually put blame on the Russia investigation rather than the Russia interference with our democratic voting process as the reason we do not have a better relationship -- he seems to forget that they are an adversary. He also responded when asked who is the greatest threat to America that it was the EU! We will never know what is said between them in the "private" meeting (perhaps relief from his loans? perhaps a Moscow Trump Tower?). There really has to be a line drawn by Congress, whose responsibility it is to be the checks and balances, to how far he can go in endangering us all. This man, whether sick or just self-serving, is taking us further and further down the Rabbit Hole, and it not stopped, we might never recover.
9
So, your suggestion is not to seek with Putin and completely ignore Russia? That sounds like past unsuccessful strategies of our past Presidents. Didn't work too well did it.
Putin is a bad actor and a person I would rather see us speaking with then left to himself. Trump, in spite of the Liberal press, has experience in dealing with people like this. He can't make it worse then it has been over the past Administration!
6
This piece pretty clearly explains how Trump has already made things worse with Russia. Hence, your conclusion has already been proved incorrect.
16
BobsOpinion, every president in my lifetime, over 50 years, has met with the Soviet then Russian, leader. But they chose their time. Obama cut at least 2 deals with Russia, START2 and the Iranian nuclear deal, with 4 other parties.
5
Worse than Obama, who did nothing to stop the cybercrime?
This article is silly. Why all this histeria? We are not at war we Russia. So they spied on us. We spy on them too. Putin is the President of a fellow country membre in the UN security council, I am sure there are many international affairs that both US and Russia broker that need dicussing. It looks like the miliary complex is pinning for a new cold war, although it formally ended in 1989.
8
I guess in contrast , we must be at war with the EU.
3
This is not about spying, but interfering in US elections in a way that resulted in Trump's illegitimate victory.
8
Just stop with the hysteria. The release of emails gave US voters more information about DNC & Hillary colluding to coronate Hillary. If that and other nefarious acts weren’t in the email, no one would care about their release...
1
Trump will endorse the Russian reconquest of Crimea for an arms freeze about as effective as the deal he made with North Korea, and be sung to high heaven for the breakthrough by his mob of sycophants.
15
Thank you from the heart, Andrew Higgins and Neil MacFarquhar for this article, the caliber of which reminds us why we need our free press and above all others the NYT.
Let us never forget.
16
Finally a President taking on the tough tasks. Instead of ignoring the hard choices. Forget this nonsense of interference thats all deflection by the left Not wanting this to succeed. I wouldn't talk about it at all, since the US hacks people everyday, whats the good. Lets talk serious issues, Syria North Korea Libya, Pipelines Oil & Gas. The rest is awaste of time. Oh By the way Crimea is done over not gonna change, move on.
7
Jim, it's hardly 'nonsense' when Putin invades (Crimea and Georgia), hacks (US election) and poisons (British citizens).
10
Putin comes out ahead?
Next week, Putin will *still* be the leader of Russia -- a vast dumpster of poverty and backwardness, a country that its people flee to come to the US, Canada, and others western nations, a country that is militarily impotent and must use asymmetrical cyber-warfare against the US because they are afraid of challenging us out in the open.
How is Putin "ahead"?
5
As usual, Putin executes his power play by making Trump to wait - he did that to Pope Francis too - but what is Trump doing? He blames Russian meddling on America.
Trump may have low expectation in meeting Putin, for whatever reason, but many in the U.S. have no expectation in Trump and they will be still disappointed.
Yet, Trump supporters thought they had a strong and forceful leader. Perhaps a bully can only bully those who are nice to him; when he meets a bigger bully, he becomes something he likes to grab!
12
Trump is a traitor who continues to put Russia & Putin before the American people & our democracy.
26
Trump is Putin's Puppet. It's that simple. This nation which used to be a nation governed by democracy... is no longer. We are well on our way to establishing an autocracy governed by wealthy oligarchs... many of them but not all of them who are Russian. It is sad. It is tragic. In the 2016 Election, many, many Americans voted against their own best interests, largely because of the racism and misogyny that was fueled by the GRU's interference in our election. But Russia is not the only guilty party. Trump and Trumptopia, the Mercers, Cambridge Analytica, the Koch Brothers.... they are all guilty of destroying the American Democracy... and for what? Pure, unadulterated greed. Congress is a pathetic group of do nothings... Mitch McConnell and his boys have put their heads in the sand. WE THE PEOPLE must VOTE in 2018 as if our life depended on it. IT DOES and if not our lives certainly the lives of our children. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY... No Supreme Court Justices should be appointed until Mueller's full report comes out and LET'S SEE Mr. Trump's Taxes.
22
"“Russia is not disappointed with Trump, but disappointed that the American system does not give the same powers to the president as the Russian system does,” Mr. Venediktov said."
It appears that Mr. Venediktov and Donald J. Trump share the same political philosophy. Mr. Venediktov's statement could easily have been uttered by Cadet Bone Spurs. In fact , he may have already said the exact same thing.
12
Can anyone imagine President Bush initiating a face to face summit with Osama Bin Laden after our intelligence agencies informed him that they had the hard evidence that Bin Laden ordered the 9-11 attack?
22
I undertsand why Trump wants to meet Putin. And it makes sense. Trump wants to personally thank Putin for helping him win the White House. Also, Trump needs to receive Putin's instructions on what type of foreign policy Trump should carry out until the end of his mandate as US president. And Trump also needs to obtain Putin's premission to seek a second mandate.
22
Trump wants to get a first hand look at the Kompromot Putin has on him.
1
This is rediculous. I'm watching TV this morning and observing the American President committing treason in front of our very eyes, and no one, most notably, the GOP Congress, is doing nothing about it. This is maddening!
26
Given that russia invaded our presidential elections the only talks a real leader would have would be to threaten putin face to face with additional, tougher sanctions.
It is clear by both his actions and his words that DJT is afraid of putin and very likely works for him.
The state of California has a bigger economy than russia so the US is clearly in a position to manipulate the tiny Russian agent putin but DJT cannot.
DJT works for putin.
The truth of their relationship will come to light. It will.
I just wonder, when the truth is known how will the GOP react knowing they participated in the treason committed by DJT.
Vote in November!
22
Trump is the deep state. A deplorable phony who leaves a trail of destruction where ever he goes. Worse, he doesn't have to worry about his massive mistakes, lies and bad judgments because the Republican Party has his back. I'm just saying . . .
20
I see it's time for the annual performance evaluation.
Also known as "how's the money laundering doing, Donald?"
I'll be tuned to the BBC this morning to see how Vald does the shake hand with Donald. You know, the one that Donald destabilizes the other party that he pulled with with Macron, Trudeau, et al.
Getting the feeling that he won't pull it this time. A kiss on the lips, maybe?
"No puppet, no puppet! You are the puppet!"
-- Donald Trump, someone US banks and US criminal families would not lend a single cent due to his serial business failures
20
Its performance review time for Donald.
13
“Russia is not disappointed with Trump, but disappointed that the American system does not give the same powers to the president as the Russian system does,”
Now where near as disappointed as is the despot extraordinaire wannabe Donald Trump...
9
Russia has a GDP of $1.28 trillion, Italy a GDP of $1.86 trillion, CA a GDP of $2.6 trillion. Evidently, to get the respect and attention of Trump requires nuclear weapons. A tolerance of animus towards immigration and to racism also is admired by Trump.
14
At least Trump is meeting with these leaders. Obama was too intimidated and scared to do so.
8
He is meeting people he should not meet. Just follow the news once a week... one hasn't to be a genious to know why. Your president isn't a man of courage, he is a liar and a coward. The simple fact of having the Helsinki meeting is a victory for Putin who, being a dictator, gets a forum he should not get. Competent and responsible leaders like Obama did know that. Competence and responsibility is, alas, the last thing you can accuse Trump of. The center of the world is Trump himself, doing the most imbecile things to stay in that center. At whatever cost. All his admirers now are complicit to what one day will be recognized as the end of an era. An era in which the USA, though not being a saint, stood for some values.
41
Obama was a walking joke when it came to international politics. All Western Europe had to do was clap and cheer for him and his ego took care of the rest. What did he accomplish in less than 1 yr in office that warranted the Nobel Prize? The short answer is nothing. Clinton was worthless as Secretary of State. The escalation of NK's nuclear program, the rise of ISIS, Benghazi, the Iran Nuclear deal, etc... all happened under her watch and with Obama's blessing. Liberals have a selective memory. Just for the record, the US's failure at Yalta was under the leadership of a Democratic President: FDR. Perhaps the Times missed that key fact in its analysis. Meeting with Russia is a must in order to address issues.
5
Putin has won by the sheer amount of ink and hype given to this meeting by everyone, especially the press. His stature has been elevated not only by meeting with an American President, but from the attention it is getting. It is not totally dissimilar to how Trump' s presence and stature during the 2016 campaign was elevated by the non-stop headlines and coverage of him. The media has yet to appreciate its role and responsibilities in influencing important events.
11
What we will see today is one professional politician meeting a TV show host who has no clue and there will be no second guesses who is who?
Putin, while being demonized to no end has an agenda that is quite different from what the NYT is trying to picture here, he is trying to improve living conditions at home and he is doing so with quite some success.
Putin is far from being the daemon has is pictured as he is still working to build a working Russia on the remains of the USSR.
That is no easy task.
Forget the Crimea incident, it is no different from others the US has used as an excuse for an invasion in the past and there is no need to discuss this any further.
The locals in the Crimea even wanted to become part of Russia, which is more than some of the US overseas domains ever wanted.
What really would help is to lift all sanctions against Russia as this would help to create a bloc of countries in the West that could act as a counter weight to China.
Of course, the US would then have to face a much larger European competition while it cannot even handle a core European competition now called the EU.
Just consider the USs nightmare of an EU plus the natural resources of Russia?
Still, since the US is not able to act rationally these days, all we will see is a Trump who will tell us that he has been great at the meeting and a Putin who will simply follow his agenda of a comeback on the world stage.
2
Yeah, other than murdering and imprisoning people Putin is really quite a sweetie.
16
China, if you’re listening, annex Singapore—there will be zero consequences.
8
Haritini,
are you aware of what you write?
Or are you just not that up to date in terms of geography and history of either Singapore and/or China?
Or are you just missing, even though you are in NYC which I assume stands for new York City, that the US has a history of more than a century of illegal wars and occupations around the world?
Have you ever heard of what the US has done since the late 19th century to Cuba, Hispanola, the Philippines, Vietnam, Iraq and many other countries and places?
I guess not, or you would not try to show off your ignorance.
Is the US education system really that bad that they do not even teach basic history of the US any more?
Suddenly everyone’s an expert on Putin. What do they know? What is their track record and experience? Maybe all these self-appointed armchair experts should sit back and let the President do his job. It might be the patriotic thing to do if they have it in them.
8
Ed,
“The patriotic thing to do” is for Trump to deny Putin a private one-on-one meeting. Why the secrecy? Why no accountability? What are they hiding?
38
you mean the bungling criminal who lost the election by millions of votes ?
Nah, rather not
30
Can you at least wait for the press conference? Will you be happy if the talks fail?
Is Trump a Quisling?
Handing over America and the free world to Putin?
12
Trump certainly maintains the appearance of one.
I believe the answers are in his undisclosed tax returns.
26
Republicans “know” what Trump is, some are concerned - they are “retiring’ or have left the party. Too many, led by Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan, just don’t care as long as there is an R next to his name and he signs bills that advantage their wealthy donors and appoints judges that advantage their wealthy donors.
They are traitors to the country and the oaths they took to protect it. I will not vote for any Republican.
38
Trump is carrying out his campaign pledges. Talk is always better than the alternative. He reiterated many times that getting along with Russia is a "good thing".
Paying for 70% of NATO is a bad thing. The British losing their sovereignty to the EU is a bad thing. And folks should recall that Stalin was born in the Ukraine.
Congress has funded for years Democratic interference in other peoples elections So lets not be so surprised that the Russians have tried to influence ours,
Trump is promoting "economic nationalism" for the direct benefit of our workers. Cut him a little slack.
4
It’s mendacious to claim benefits to US workers through Trump’s policies—tariffs will adversely affect manufacturing, no matter where it’s located.
11
This is somehow putting the cart before the horse. The American people elected Donald Trump in Free & Fair Elections. The American people share Donald Trump’s view that good relations with President Putin is good for the USA. The American people approved of a known life-long Liar on Every Issue, a known accused in repeated large-scale financial frauds, a known supporter of unchecked environment pollution as their President. The problem is not President Trump. He will go away not later than 2024. The problem is the American people who approve of everything abhorrent to freedom-loving peoples of the world. That is the HUGE Problem which the World has to deal with in the 21st century.
15
An "analysis" like this which avoids the word "impeachment" is like a reporter describing a fast-spreading urban fire without mentioning the fire department.
8
Trump blaming the Obama for the Russian attack against our nation is like the Bank Robber saying, "yes, I robbed the bank; but, the real blame lies with the cops for not stopping me!"
30
“Russia is not disappointed with Trump, but disappointed that the American system does not give the same powers to the president as the Russian system does,” Mr. Venediktov said.
Roughly translated that means, too bad Trump can’t act unilaterally to deliver everything on Putin’s honey-do list. Eerie how often we hear that same sentiment from Trump. I wonder where he got that?
When Jeff Glor of CBS asked Trump if he would ask Putin to hand over the indicted Russian hackers, Trump said, I haven’t thought of that. Uh? If Trump isn’t an actual Russian puppet he certainly plays one very well.
Trump is so far out of his ‘very stable genius’ mind to believe he can meet with Putin on anything resembling an equal footing. Trump is a couple horseshoes short of a fully shod horse.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Founders, for devising a government composed of three (mostly) equal and balanced branches. We need it now more than ever before.
13
we all know what Trump will say to Putin: gee thanks for all the help! How about more of the same for 2020
12
Trump is a traitor. Our country has been attacked by the Russians. Our liberty, freedom and country is at stake. And the Republicans are standing by watching and do not even care.
Republicans must never, ever be trusted again. Never. They have sold us out for the sake of power at our expense. At the expense of our lives, our children, our resources, natural resources and global peace.
Trump has divided our people and unleashed a hate that will take many years to contain. Arrest him and lock him up. I could only dream that they will arrest him when he enters our American airspace.
We are being lied to again and again to our faces. Come on , People, we are not fools! We are Americans and we will not stand for this!!
28
“Mr. Trump lashed out at the American news media. Saying they would never give him credit for a successful summit meeting, he branded many journalists “the enemy of the people.”
No, Donald J. Trump, the Republican Party, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, the Federalist Society, The Heritage Foundation, Cato Foundation and the Fox News propaganda channel (i.e. Rupert Murdoch) along with the Koch Brothers, Sheldon Adelson and Robert Mercer (to name a few) are “the enemy of the people.”
We, the People, shall defeat these traitors to America, our Constitution, our freedoms and rights granted there under and our Allies.
21
Trump’’s words and actions are those of a traitor. He’s making the U.S. and it’s allies less safe. For goodness sake, Democrats, if you can’t take down a traitor you’re sunk as a party.
13
The republican party is down the drain thanks to "t" and because except for a very few, they don't have a back bone to stand up to him. And now the meeting to end all meetings. Neither of them can be trusted and to permit "t' to meet with Putin alone is absurd. Putin can and will run rings around "t'..... he' so much smarter..... too bad he's isn't one of the good guys. Just how much ore damage "t" can and will do is anyone guess. He has insulted our allies, trashed our past Presidents while overseas and as usual embarrassed our country. When will enough be enough.
7
Putin gives Trump an A at his performance review, aka summit.
6
Each American citizen must throw the gauntlet before each Republican candidate in the upcoming elections, asking "do you condemn and disavow this president?'
10
Putin has got Trump all wrapped up. One evil dictator vs another.
7
Trump has been a wannabe oligarch for decades and this gives Putin some measure of leverage over his ambitions as Moscow and its super-rich have the money to help Trump reach his dream.
Add in whatever sex tape or financial criminal evidence Putin has acquired and that gives him double the leverage.
Putin now considers Trump as one of his oligarch "boys" and this meeting is designed to give further instructions. By controlling Trump Putin is now the most powerful man in the world.
4
Some commenters say Trump is no match for Putin. Well good thing the US is not represented by Hillary. Trump got the better of her without much effort.
2
Trump is the greatest success of the Russian Secret Service of all times - and he does not even know it.
Other coutries & powerfull companies will follow this way of manipulating elections through (anti-) social media, wikileaks and hacking uncomfortably politicians. Brave new world : (
9
Trump gave Ukraine javelin anti tank missles,Patriot missles to Poland, armourments to the Baltics and giving Europe the option of US supplied LNG in the near future to undercut Russia gas exports. Obama opposed all of this.
Obama and Hillary gave Vlad a "reset button", than sat on their hands when Ukrainian land was taken by Russia...when the US was treaty bound to help Ukraine.
Obama talked tough and did nothing.
Trump is talking softly and giving Russia's neighbors a chance to defend themselves.
Have some folks lost their memory?
3
Sleeper? He doesn’t even bother to hide! How ironic that for decades it was the Republican Party that was so hawkish on USSR/Russia. Now they are asleep while Russia runs the USA openly from the White House.
14
Why should Pres. Trump's Russian policy follow the hyperbolic libstream media's fiction? Like, who voted for them? Elections have consequences; you know!
Pres. Trump has already stated exactly what he intends to do...and I quote, "This was in the Obama administration."
Think about it.
1
When two people are arrested for the same crime, don’t police separate them? Why is Trump going to meet Putin a co-conspirator in the infiltration of the 2016 election? Maybe they need to plan some more crimes against the truth?
3
If Obama had behaved this way he would have been impeached.
Today, Republicans are silent in the face of treason. Is Roe worth it? Is there something else they are getting through this puppet “president” that makes the loss of our sovereignity and the destruction of all relationships with longtime allies worth it all? Tax breaks? What? What keeps the GOP silent in the face of presidential malfeasance?
11
Paul Revere would be riding through Trump country right about now warning that the Russians are (figuratively) coming, and other patriots would be denouncing Trump as a treasonous Benedict Arnold. Trump's destiny should be banishment to a prison ship sailing ceaselessly around the globe, having in essence sabotaged his right to be called an American, like "the man without a country."
4
This summit is like sending a 7 year old child into a room with a seasoned prosecutor. Except, the prosecutor would take some level of pity on the child and be gentle.
2
For Trump, friendly relations and photos with Putin are designed to bolster his "strong man" image at home. He wants to be "The American Putin" -- virile, potent and feared. Association with no other world leader can give him that image, certainly not the female leaders.
6
This meeting is just further evidence of the on-going conspiracy between Donald Trump and Putin against America. And, further proof that we need to greatly reduce the powers of the Presidency if there is no one who has the authority to intervene and stop this obvious attack against America.
6
The way that Trump has savaged his allies in inexcusable. He does have a point in regard to Germany's partial reliance on Russian energy supplies but, as usual, chose to belittle and insult without any thought a solution. If he really cared, and if he is the great deal maker, he should have offered US support in working with Germany to find a way of reducing or eliminating the Russian energy supply to Germany. Who knows, there might even be an opportunity for US energy companies. This is what a leader, who unites rather than divides, would do. That such an approach clearly never entered his head either confirms his total unsuiatbility as a leader or he will not do something that would further hurt Russia economically, or both.
3
"That order includes Russia playing a central role, instead of being treated like a pariah or a second-rate has-been."
The thing is, Russia is a second-rate has-been and the only reason it gets any attention is because of it's military. The US used to mean more than it does now and Trump's meeting with Putin, like his meeting with Kim, just confirms our slide. Most of Russia still uses an outdoor toilet, you can't flush toilet paper in the Kremlin, when was the last time you heard of Russia exporting some marvelous new technology. Yes, well carry on Mr. Trump, back to the fifties, it was a happier, stupider time. Congratulations to the American people for thinking it is as simple as that.
Finally, NYT photo editors, show us a picture of Theresa May, looking as if she's saying 'Honey, can I get you anything else?' and Putin giving a lecture to Donald who's trying to catch up. Could we please flip these images and show the smart people in the room, looking a little more tough, instead of featuring the loathed president and current tzar looking legitimate?
2
Why is a sitting president who is known to have business relationships and financial obligations to Russian oligarchs allowed time alone with Putin? Putin murders and poisons journalists, dissidents, gay people, and others, to preserve a crumbling Russian empire and a network of corrupt autocrats. Why is the press not firmly and loudly asking why Trump is allowed time alone with a dictator like Putin? When the alarm bells are ringing so loudly?
6
If you can only think of this meeting between Trump and Putin in terms of winners and losers then I'm afraid its true significance will be lost on you. After all, in the broad scheme of things, it is what these two big time egos represent that matters it terms of winning and losing. And what is represented here, by both of these guys, should make us all want to seek, perhaps through a life time of meditation, escapement from the cycle of birth and death.
Vladimir Putin is smarter than all his
Soviet predecessors who wanted to destroy the West by force. He simply took advantage of the Syrian civil war that started to suppress hopes raised by the Arab Spring in 2011. The resulting carnage, heaped on his people by Putin's ally, Syrian President al-Assad, displaced millions of refugees who sought asylum in the West.
Thereafter Putin didn't need arms -- he invested in internet trolling to foment fear, racism, distrust, and xenophobia throughout Europe and the US, leading to the rise of authoritarian and authoritarian-worshipping regimes. They'll then do the job of tearing down from the inside Western principles of freedom, tolerance, justice, and human rights, and a world order that has mostly kept the peace for the last 70 years. All without firing a shot.
8
Trump is going in to a Performance Review with Putin. He intends to go in completely alone, to be with his master & commander, relying exclusively on the Russian spooks & denying access to the meeting to any US experts.
This is an employee of the American people. Our tax dollars are being spent to create this opportunity for Trump & Putin to confer, make contingency plans, scheme about how to apply further extortionate pressures on the civilized societies of the planet.
We would be derelict, as Americans, if we did not have a way of getting around Trump's obviously criminal & treasonous obeisance to the Kremlin kleptocracy.
Trump could not articulate any "goal" for this non-summit that is actually a powwow between crime families. That is because Trump's only goal is Money. Whatever he & Putin discuss will be about More Money for Trump -- and more power for Putin.
Having studied Russian history in the original for 60 years now, I can tell you Russian historiography is full of lies & whitewashing of Russian war crimes & crimes against humanity. Russians have only known Militarism as a state system of tyranny. They don't know their own history. Their arguments about Crimea amount to the equivalent of "all English speakers including the USA belong to England, actually to the Queen of England, as her personal property." Obviously, that is nonsense.
Attempts to "gift Putin Crimea" will backfire massively & may lead to huge losses of life as well as of US Sovereignty.
3
By insisting on a virtual one-on-one, Trump is revealing his NEED for a lack of transparency given whatever has/is going down.
It means something is happening behind closed doors that requires new advice.
The fact that he cannot have that conversation on official phones (as they are on public record) or with Staff in the room, is BEYOND dirty.
For my money, I think Trump is worried about him and his family staying out of jail in coming years.
6
I’m amazed every time I hear a journalist or commentator remark on how “unusual”’or “different” it is for an American President to act as Trump is with regard to Russia and it’s election meddling and his denigration of allies. Let’s just cut to the chase and acknowledge what anyone paying attention (which should include journalists) knows: Trump knew in real time that Putin was helping his candidacy, he encouraged it in real time, and he’s grateful to Putin for his support.
7
As an European, it is disturbing to be labelled as ‘foe’ because... (sorry do not understand exactly why)... while he is not thinking about questioning Russia about intervening in US democracy and attacking people in Britain?!
What surprises me even more is that US senators and congress members are not intervening by now. I hope that Trump is simply annoyed because Macron defied his claim of success, May disclosing his great Brexit suggestion (which is a strange plan that would hurt the U.K. economy) and the European public openly disliking his poor manners and anti-EU and NATO policies. Then it would be about ego instead of....
3
Trump may acted strange and make a lot unbelievable comments and tweets, but he is fighting for American interests. You don't have to be a former CIA agent to understand a former KGB agent. I trust Trump and I am sure he could handle Putin properly without John Bolton's advice. Putin already knew that twelve Russian agents been indicated by our government. He also know that we could not go anything about them. Why Obama did not prevent this election meddling in 2016?
Is that a serious question?
Why does Trump insist on a private one-on-one meeting with Putin if not for something nefarious? It is not a stretch that highly unscrupulous Trump will urge Putin to meddle in close elections this fall or even to poison Mueller and his team. Think about it, why must the content of this meeting be hidden from Americans?
9
Am I alone in thinking that the reason Trump called for a private meeting with Putin is to check that Russia is doing everything it can to ensure that Republicans win in November?
12
Enough. How much longer does this have to go on before people who can stop this come to their senses and realize it has gone on way too long.
6
Putin's been coming out ahead for quite a while now, one notes.
Godspeed, Mr Mueller.
Before another Supreme Court seat is lost.
5
Putin has already come out ahead with Trump targeting a boycott of Iran's oil industry and government revenue.
Russia is first and foremost a petro state, with much of the state and the super-rich's wealth dependent on high oil prices.
The super low oil prices over the last few years have put the petro states in financial crisis. Venezuela has already collapsed and Iran and Russia were next. I think we underestimate how threatened Russia was by the reduced revenue. Low oil prices also hurt the US as the world's largest oil producer but not as much as these other countries.
How could Trump help Putin and Russia? By ripping up the Iran agreement and instituting a global boycott of Iranian oil. This would serve to not only raise the global oil price, it would also throttle Iran's budget and squeeze the regime while raising oil revenues for Russia and easing pressure on Putin.
So Trump's recent call for Saudi Arabia to release more oil to get the oil price and US summer gasoline prices down is a fake. His goal is to raise oil revenue for Russia by moving oil prices higher, a critical need for Putin. The US gains as well but it's not as urgent as it is for petro state Russia. In just this one Trump US policy change Putin has come out ahead.
6
Trump is Russian controlled. That has been fairly obvious since election dsy.
9
Make Russia Great Again.
And why not suspect this turn? The man in hated throughout the West, his properties aren't making the money they should; if the economy in Russia were on an upturn and he could begin investing at ground floor, especially with Putin's help he could make a bundle of money in Russia.
This is someone who has never shown any interest in public service; only himself and his children (once they're old enough to help him make money).
Be realistic. He's in this for himself. People don't get new personalities after living 72 years.
32
With Trump already compromised personally before the Russians and doing what Putin would have desired him to do as his agent to whatever cost to the US and the liberal world, where's the room to suspect the Trump-Putin summit outcome? It wouldn't be surprising if Trump voluntarily offers some more classified information to his master Putin to feel personally more assured and secured even if such acts of Trump badly expose the US sovereignty and integrity to the Russian manipulations and cyber attacks. Back home Trump will simply speak his master's voice allying any fears and misgivings about Russia and its newly emerged czar, Vladimir Putin.
6
This year's mid-term elections will be more important than any others in a long time. We can assume that state-sponsored foreign agencies will try to compromise them.
We should temporarily revert to mechanical voting machines, possibly of the punch card style.
At the risk of "hanging chads", we remove a gaping avenue of attack. Further, the administration's support of border security would be a boon if the security of the election mechanics became physical rather than electronic.
21
The day will arrive when many of your friends and family members will shriek that they had no idea that President Trump was a traitor and in Putin's pocket. They will claim ignorance and innocence in his rise to power. Please remind them that all of the evidence was in front of them, but they didn't want to know and ultimately, didn't care.
67
No. He stuck up for the USA. No longer are we the piggy bank for Europe et. al.
Reads like a CIA handout written by Brennan and Clapper.
1
This thought makes me ill, but while the Democrats are running around without focus, squawking that the sky is falling in, and with already $88 million in his war chest, I honestly believe that Donald will take it again in 2020..
Hey, Dems, foot stomping, pious and self-righteous pouting, and playing the high moral ground won’t win this battle...
Remember, Trump feeds on chaos and gleefully skips the light fantastic to the tune of other’s dismay and disarray.
Get it together, folks! You swing the pendulum blade to far left again and it’s your own head that will be rolling down the executioner’s plank - again.......
13
far left... you mean like wanting things like universal health care can like the rest of the developed world has had for years? people like you thought that women voting was 'too far left' at one point. Not all of us want to live in the 1950s.
6
Halfway through this article is a casual reference to “the often venomous anti-American diatribes by Russia’s state-controlled news outlets.” Yet this article itself, like most of what the NYT prints, is quite literally a venomous anti-Russian diatribe. Do NYT readers simply swallow unquestioningly the ludicrous notion that the world’s moral structure boils down to “America good, Russia bad?”
The article refers to Russia’s 2014 “annexing” of Crimea, but completely omits mention of the US-backed coup in Kiev that immediately preceded the peaceful referendum in which Crimeans voted to rejoin Russia. That’s a huge omission.
The article also refers casually to Russia’s alleged “meddling” in the 2016 US election, as though it were established fact. Actually, for those advanced readers who know the difference between “fact” and “allegation,” there is no evidence of any “meddling;” there are merely allegations set forth by the professional disinformation experts at US intelligence agencies, echoed endlessly by the media.
Furthermore, even if there were real evidence of “Russian meddling,” it wouldn’t begin to compare with the richly documented history of US meddling in others’ elections, including in Russia, which TIME Magazine bragged about in its cover story of July 15, 1996. Time thought the US interference in Russia’s election was cause for great merriment, but for some odd reason, if Russia had actually done the same thing to us, it's an intolerable evil?
12
It's wrong when the CIA does it, and it's wrong when Russia does it. I can be angry that Russia aided the worst US president in history while also being angry that we keep overthrowing democracy at the behest of corporate interests. The world isn't binary
7
it was not a us backed coup. it was the citizens of Ukraine staring down Putin's hired killers to reclaim their country as their own. you got a problem with that? the history is clear.
5
I read the hacks that the Russians published in the American online news media. They infiltrated all kinds of media, not just the election process but they used the social media to broadcast deliberately confusing messages about Hilary Clinton - and disguised them as opinion.
If you want your news to be free of tampering by an oppressive super power, then care.
13
How about just by meeting, Trump comes out ahead.
?
No, that could not be possible.
Oh, I forgot it is the NYT.
8
It's certainly possible--it's just not true.
5
I believe Mueller and his team and Rod Rosenstein have seen this as a case of treason for some time. On Friday, they showed some of their cards. None were about obstruction; all were about crimes against our national security.
I also suggest that Mueller and Rosenstein--the names go together now--got their message across to at least some Republicans in Congress. The difference between the Trey Gowdy who viciously attacked Peter Sztrock on Thursday and the same man today disclaiming any interest in impeachment of Rosenstein is perhaps the realization that one of Mueller's 100 new blank subpoenas might be for Gowdy himself.
Not even Brett Kavanagh, I wager, would argue that a treasonous president cannot be indicted in office or that a criminal indictment for treason would have to wait for Trump to be impeached and tried in the Senate.
Lincoln, in his Lyceum Speech in 1838 said that no foreign power would succeed in destroying our institutions, that the struggle of the People would be to put down a tyrant from our midsts. He put his faith in the People to preserve our institutions, not the other way around.
With the word "treason" on the lips of patriots, the struggle begins in earnest.
41
Today on the news about 5 clips were shown from various meetings Trump had in the past with Putin. Putin is looking at Trump with a laser like precision similar to a snake before he is going to strike a target. Trump is blabbing and bragging away oblivious to the snake. Putin had a slight self satisfied smile on his face knowing he had this fool exactly where he wanted. It was eerie.
59
This has been my reaction too. Exactly. Laser focus, power focus of The Master. Creepy to the max.
The article aside, President Trump has stated within the last couple days,
"The United States and Russia are competitors."
I don't think Trump is a puppet of anyone because he cannot get along with anyone. And I don't think that others have "dirt" on him, which is personal in nature. So, there is no blackmail.
But I think that the former Soviet Union, now just Russia, needs "game" and the U.S. is it. The Russians are brilliant, educated, and talented in the arts, but they need somewhere to go with all that cerebral power and they have no "game", no wide open spaces to exercise their personal greatness - to see their own accomplishments without the great white gloved hand of their government intruding into their lives, and seizing, if they do accomplish and "make money", their earnings.
I see Trump's denouncement of Europe as quite sick, vulgar, idiotic, dangerous, weird.
The people who should be seeing Trump as the above is the US government and we the People must take it back.
Impeach Trump on becoming a danger to our country and others.
7
The world seems upside down. Russia has just ended the week on a high and the US on a low.
Explanation is very simple. Putin just had a wonderful few weeks by putting together a great event at the world stage; on the other hand, Trump just had a disastrous few days, also at the world stage, by insulting his way through Europe.
I honestly wonder if Putin sees any use for Trump anymore. Wouldn't he be seen as diminishing returns now? I mean the USA is still the greatest super power in the world. But are we really able to influence world events anymore? It seems that Trump has taken us out of the game ( piece by painful piece).
17
President Kennedy (1963): Ich bin ein Berliner, In support of West Berlin, when the Russians took over east Germany in probably one of the most famous anti-Russian speeches
Another president imaginarily thinking (small "p") : Я - русский ( I am a Russian), in probably what will become one of the most worst pro-Russian speeches if one could read minds!
5
Since my GOP senator from Pennsylvania doesn't read email, never answers the phone, and doesn't hold town halls, perhaps he'll read the NYT comment section: Dear Senator Toomey, the president you support is about to meet a foreign adversary. This president has just finished an internationally embarrassing tour where he insulted our allies, while knowing of the pending indictments of Russian-government sponsored hacking. You, and your party are saying nothing, and you and your party will own the fact that a sitting President is going to have a little "chat" with a foreign power doing everything possible to subvert our democracy.
64
I totally agree with you, McGee
5
I feel like I’m watching the beginning of the end for us as a full fledged democratic nation .
This wannabe autocrat Trump is literally tearing down our values right before our very eyes and is hailing the very same despot , Putin , who corruptly engineered him into office .
Who knows if votes were changed ? And if not this time, what about the next election? From what I understand hackers can get into some of these computer run machines without anyone knowing if votes were changed .
So now he’s meeting with Putin and going to hail him as this great guy. This is very bad .
November has to sweep in as many Democrats as possible to stop this monster.
I can’t speak to anyone if I know they’re still supporting Trump. If they do , then to me they are traitors to our country.
38
“We are witnessing something surprising, something that even the Soviet Union was not able to accomplish: Divide the U.S. and Western Europe. It didn’t work then, but it seems to be working with Mr. Trump now,” Tatyana Parkhalina, president of the Russian Association for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation, said on a recent talk show on state-run television."
There really isn't much to add to that observation.
Whether it's because President Trump is in debt up to his eyeballs to Putin (as his family members have intimated) or his naivete or contrarian nature, he's delivering to our adversary everything the adversary wants.
On a silver platter.
The technical term for this is "treason".
64
Good point. Its kind of strange that not just the usual cast of banking characters in Cypress are involved in Mr. Trump's finances but so was (and I suppose still is) Deutsche Bank, which just reported stellar earnings, above market expectations. Not bad for a bank that only a year or so ago was found guilty of money laundering to the tunes of about 10 billion dollars, and is directly involved in large scale loans to Kirshner and Trump. No other POTUS could ever have withstood even one percent of what the US public and the world in general is putting up with from Mr. Trump, family, friends, and potentially other financial and political conspirators. WOW! May you live in "interesting times" is the ancient Chinese curse. We do!
How many of you has called your auto insurance agent and demanded your premium to be raised because you felt it wasn’t fair at all that you pay much lower rates than the bad drivers so you wanted everybody to pay equally regardless if the othera were the higher risk due to their bed behavior and dangerous habits?
Why are you upset if President Trump is trying to keep your defense premium low?
That’s exactly his job!
You agreed to live in the same country with 50 other states, thus making you stronger and better protected than let’s say Latvia, Lithuania or Estonia.
Because of such sacrifices the Republicans lived for eight years under the Obama Administration while the Democrats cope now with Donald Trump in the White House.
However, those personal sacrifices have made you strong society so you should pay less percentage of the GDP on your defense than the countries of only few million people.
Let me summarize the problem now. The government of Lithuania is expecting us to fight for them if Russia attacked that country.
Isn’t it too much to ask from the nation that has been waging the foreign wars on behalf of the others for almost a century?
Would they support the Trump Administration in hypothetical decision to print $20 trillion dollars to pay off our creditors to be financially viable to continue defending the rest of the world?
Can we count on their support for such a move?
1
A meeting with this president requires an asterisk. It does not have the same significance as a meeting with any of the previous 45 US Presidents.
9
1) This is the part in the movie that will be made about this era where Mueller, with a truckload of intelligence unknown in the public sphere, knows what is going to be said between Trump and Putin. He has set traps for them...and can prove their culpability based on what ends up happening in the next few weeks to a year.
2) I want to know....do the President's security people work for the White House or the FBI? If not the White House, then Trump better know he probably isn't really alone with the Russians.
10
Turmps job is to focus on the US in every aspect. His job is to care about the US and to abide by US laws and the Constitution. He ignores the US, the laws and the Constitution as shown time and again by his words and his actions. Now he wants to meet his friend Putin in private. At the same time he has tried his best to cripple the functioning of the US government and run everything on his own with no oversight. What comes next? Economic revival of Russia with US know how?.Tons of launderedi money flowing but with Putin's strings on it. How will the now weakened US respond to blackmail by Putin?
10
Fighting Russia so that the EU (indeed an economic rival) can have Ukraine is not in America's national interest. Were America going to get Ukraine, then it might be another story, but the fact of the matter is if Russia doesn't get Ukraine then the EU will, and once in the EU, Ukraine will be walled off behind the EU's tariffs and regulations. It's a bad deal for the United States.
We don't have to become friends with Russia. In fact, they will likely remain a rival of ours for years, possibly decades, to come. But we also should not seek to have a needlessly excessively hostile relationship with them. Right now, we are doing just that, and doing so for petty and ideological reasons. We should be more pragmatic in our approach.
China is a much greater long-term danger. Europe is an economic rival of ours, India and Brazil are potential rivals, and the world's oil supplies are still largely under the thumb of Muslim regimes that are hostile to Western civilization. Except for natural gas and armaments Russia doesn't really compete with the United States in any field. They don't have to be the enemy we've made them out to be. We already cooperate with them in space, so it is indeed possible for us to get along.
Stop blaming Russia for 2016. Identity politics, immigration, and James Comey cost the democrats the election. Whatever effect Russia had it was a drop in the bucket compared to those three things.
3
The world is not a zero sum game. Europe does not have to be a rival. Western Europe and the U.S. (before Trump) share many common values not so much with Putin’s Russia.
3
If you don't think the world is a zero-sum game you are incredibly naive.
Let the EU open up its market to American businesses. Until they do so we have nothing to gain by fighting Russia for them. Since the end of the cold war the EU has proceeded to gobble up half of Europe. America saved Europe from the Soviets and in the aftermath of all of our efforts to do so Europe has returned the favor by conniving to keep America out of its newly conquered territories. China (the mortal enemy of Western civilization) starts a development bank to rival the supposedly sacred post-war liberal institutions and what do the Europeans do? They jump at the chance to join the Chinese bank despite vociferous American protests. Some friends they are!
I agree that Europe does not have to be a rival. But it's the Europeans who have been pursuing that course, not the United States.
Trump was surprised to learn that someone was listening to and leaked his private conversation with the Russians in the Oval Office, where he admitted his intent to obstruct justice with the Comey sacking (“it relieved great pressure”). And where he shared with the Russians sensitive Israeli intel earmarked solely for the eyes of the US.
On neutral ground in Helsinki - Finland, we recall, stayed neutral during the Cold War - Trump can give away state secrets to America’s greatest foe - that being Putin, not the EU - with utter impunity.
The CIA, FBI, NSA, and DIA and the UK’s M-6 and M-5 need to somehow hear that conversation, despite all KGB/FSB attempts to thwart listening in, and be ready to disseminate that Trump-Putin conversation if corruption overheard and/or Western state secrets gifted.
21
Amusing Russia thinks Trump is being held hostage by stereotypical (American) establishment thinking. There are plenty of facts to show Russia was and is a bad actor in the world. From Trump’s statements, Trump also believes the deep state is holding him down, nearly word for word from the mouths of Russian spokespeople. Yes, too bad for Russia the American president is shackled by Checks and Balances, so far. That Trump does not view Russia as a bad actor suggests he, too, would like to carve up the world with Putin. Such old world thinking caused two world wars and nearly one-hundred million people killed. To authoritarians and dictators, human beings are expendable. This is why NATO was formed. To those Americans who have somehow discarded humanity and decency to support this poor excuse of a president, you are being conned in a dangerous game of self-centered power and greed. The chaos and disruption you crave is not going to turn out to be what you were promised.
11
Mr. Trump, you said: “Unfortunately, no matter how well I do at the Summit,……..I would return to criticism that it wasn’t good enough”. Ok. Mr. Trump, please do tell what is your benchmark of doing well at the Summit? You have no agenda except for shaking Putin’s hand. So how is anybody, let alone your critics, to judge what you accomplish or not accomplish on your visit to Helsinki? Yes, you will impress your base and Sean Hannity at Fox. But it is high time that you learn that summits, especially with Russia, is more than a photo op. But then again, for a TV showman like you with no idea about substance of foreign and defense policy, it is foolish for silly US citizens to expect any meaningful dialogue. If nothing else, please send us a post card from Helsinki with a selfie of you and Putin together, and we will be happy with it. Best way to be content now is with lowered expectations.
7
When President was briefed about the 12 most recent indictments of Russians who conspired to throw the 2016 Mr. Trump's way, he should have either canceled the summit or take the 29 page indictment to the meeting and make Putin answer for it. President Trump must ask the questions and make Putin answer the questions. This meeting is not a real estate negotiation; it is a confrontation to try and put an end to conspiring to destroy our democracy. If Putin does not cooperate, more sanctions should be done. Russia has a horrible economy. Their budget is less than that of Italy. They are not able to maintain an effective military. President Trump needs to be able to capitalize on these vulnerabilities when he walk in to the room. Unfortunately, Mr. Trump probably does not even know about these vulnerabilities.
10
Can’t you understand what president Trump is doing?
Of course, he is treating Russia “better” than Canada, Germany or France.
Why?
We are supposed to hold our friends to much higher standards than our enemies.
Your friends are supposed to be perfect and you want to help them in staying perfect. You work hard to correct their mistakes and failures.
However, you have very low expectation for your enemies so you tolerate even their worst behavior because it hurts them and you don’t care.
That’s why you care the most about the mistakes of your own kids make and try to teach them how to avoid them. Seeing the identical mistakes in the children of the other people doesn’t bother you so much because you don’t care so much about them…
3
So, Trump is the mature parental figure of global politics? Good lord.
4
Mr. Trump will go down in history as the biggest fool ever, a tool, an asset, a useful idiot. The Republicans who stand by silently and let him blather on, doing nothing, will be his biggest fools, assets-by-proxy and useful idiots all. And Fox News and their followers...? All being played.
What a sickening time.
22
It’s not rude at all to ask the others to pay for their fair share of the common defense. Actually, it’s the constitutional duty of the US president to act in such a way and protect the American taxpayers.
It is very expensive to be a small country.
If you are a small state, there is a price tag for having such narrow worldviews.
Being a small society is a choice.
In that case you don’t care what you share with your neighbors. It’s your personal preference to stay small.
The fifty US states could have easily been 50 independent countries by emphasizing their internal differences. Who would in that case defend Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from the big bear?
Now, if you allow yourself to depend on the other countries for your defense, you have to pay more as percentage of the GDP than the large states because you need them more than they need you.
If America pays 3% of the GDP for the national defense, then Great Britain, France and Germany should pay 4%, the countries like Poland and Italy should commit 5% while Estonia, Lithuania and Estonia should pay 6%.
If those countries were buying the defense insurance policies from the private corporations, those would be the rates in the free market.
Those who prefer to subsidize the national defense of the foreign country should do it with their own money, not with the taxpayer’s funds…
3
Everything that this President, his family and his backers/republicans has to be looked at through the lens of who profits the most.
We already know that the President is flagrantly abusing the Emoluments clause of the Constitution by enriching himself and his family. We also know that there has been considerable pay for play schemes to ''access'' the President and his family.
We also know that Russia/banks have financed multiple properties of the President and his family. We also know that China made some traded agreements with the President and his family.
We simply do not know what financial ties (or otherwise) there are because this President still refuses to release his tax returns. However the Mueller inquiry certainly is closing in with multiple guilty pleas and indictments. (including Russia)
So, having said all that and with a meeting already with North Korea, trashing our allies and NATO, and starting trade wars/tariffs here, there and everywhere, then SOME people are getting rich. We have already seen some massive shorts sells. (for even people in this administration)
It will be no surprise if we later find out what leverage (financial or otherwise) Putin has over this President to treat him so lavishly.
We shall see.
12
Putin has his state influenced Television industry and so does Trump. Almost all campaign monies go to television. No wonder to me they devoted (?) a Billion dollars worth of free airtime to help Trump win. Lets be honest. Democracy is on the way out much to my disappointment. You'll see it on TV.
8
When it comes to President Donald Trump, the New York Times is forever hearing the roar of distant thunder at the picnic. Nothing is ever right, there is never any hope. Disillusionment is never lacking, and with it's accuracy for detail, no impossibility has been overcome. No wonder half the country finds you unimportant.
7
Half the country is still a pretty big audience for a newspaper? Though if we’re really going by the number, less than half the country voted. And of those voters, less than half voted for Trump.
3
I can't believe there is even a single person left on this country who doesn't realize Trump is owned by Putin
38
How did we get to this point? There have to be weak points in the way the democracy is set up. Trump and his subversive cohorts seemed to have very little viable opposition to this point. This would not have happened in Canada - there would have been a vote of no confidence long ago and Trump would have been gone. One party majority should not be able to bring down the system by being subversive. There need to be checks built in against that to preserve the basic character of the system.
Authoritarianism is foreign to democracy and democracy controlled by an authoritarian monarch- like leader is not a democracy. Why can't there be checks built into the system and why don't authoritarian oriented candidates fail the test of a Democracy's president to begin with? There is a hole a mile wide in the Constitution. There must be.
11
Uhmm maybe because we have a US Constitution that does not allow for opinions to be credible evidence to remove an elected President.
sorry that you do not like your President using twitter to communicate to the common folk.
If you don't like the two-party system currently in vogue in the USA, form a new Party and create change.
2
Dear Joyce
Your words are well spoken
The problem is the electoral college . That’s the mile wide whole . Trump NOT the democratically elected leader. He lost by 3 million votes
The framers did not trust the regular voter with electing the president so they put in what they thought were safeguards so that if a leader like Trump arose , the electors would not vote him into office regardless if that leader won the popular vote . But now we have the opposite . The American people were wise enough to know that Trump was a dangerous leader , hence the three million less votes.
The electoral college was to supposed to be there to make sure he didn’t get elected but we all know that if a candidate wins a state they get ALL the electoral votes .
THAT is the big whole in our democratic system . It isn’t democratic , plain and simple
We should have one person , one vote , period .
9
Well that certainly needs to be fixed, no question about that. As long as that hole exists the US is not really a democracy, regardless of what anybody says.
How did we get an egomaniac president who is on our adversarial nation's -- I won't use the term "enemy's -- side? What do we do about it? Congressional Republicans are too meek and cowardly to challenge President Pathological via the 25th amendment (mental case disability) or impeachment. We must act on November Election Day to rescue our nation from this preening oaf.
18
Trump Plays The Fool (haiku duet) "Putin will eat Trump - for breakfast, lunch and dinner - and then spit him out"; "Putin versus Trump - isn't an equal contest - it's man against boy"
9
Was Obama any better.
There are supposed to be translators - plural - at the Trump-Putin meeting. But what if Trump-Putin somehow find some time in Finland to meet with only Putin's translator present? They found a way to do that when they met last July. Will the same thing happen tomorrow?
Trump and Putin Held a Second, Undisclosed, Private Conversation
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/18/world/europe/trump-putin-undisclosed-...
From the article:
The July 7 meeting in Hamburg, Germany, was the single most scrutinized of the Trump presidency. But it turned out there was another encounter: a one-on-one discussion over dinner that lasted as long as an hour and relied solely on a Kremlin-provided interpreter. ...There is no official United States government record of the intimate dinner conversation, because no American official other than the president was involved.
Experts in United States-Russia relations said such an encounter — even on an informal basis at a social event — was a concern because of its length, which suggested a substantive exchange, and because there was no note taker or national security or foreign policy aide present.
"...there is no independent American account of what happened," said Steven Pifer, a former ambassador to Ukraine who also specializes in Russia and nuclear arms control. "If I was in the Kremlin, my recommendation to Putin would be, ‘See if you can get this guy alone,’ and that’s what it sounds like he was able to do."
28
Trump meeting Putin...As one of the song lyrics written by the brilliant Lin Manuel Miranda in his hit musical “HAMILTON” opines:
“No one else was in the room where happened!” Another of Miranda’s lyrics... “Click, click boom!”
There have been 13 Presidents of The United States of America since my birth in 1944.
Lucky 13? Sheesh!
2
Truth be told, the average American could care less about this and aren't even aware of the fact that the President is having a meeting with Putin. They probably don't even know what country Putin is President of or who he is, don't have a clue where Helsinki or Finland are or aren't aware of Trump's alleged Russian alliances. I am not kidding.
25
Looking at the behavior of Trump and how since his multiple bankruptcies he could no longer get loans from American banks and turned to Russia as a funding source. Combined with his highly questionable cash purchases of golf courses which are losing money every year in the millions, it is likely that he is up to his ears in debt to Russian oligarchs and Putin and everything he has been doing is in service to resolving this debt rather than serving the country.
My guess is that he will meet with Putin in Helsinki to see how much more he needs to do to clean up his debt while he sells out the country.
18
This meeting is so important to our knowing whether Trump is a Traitor or a fool. I await the outcome and analysis.
3
Thus far, he is both for meeting with Putin after the revelations during his Presidency.
3
Trump should read (if he can) the political history of Russia.....has anyone ever come ahead by becoming "friend" of Russia. By showing servitude to Putin, Trump will only open more doors for Putin and none for himself.
5
“We are witnessing something surprising, something that even the Soviet Union was not able to accomplish: Divide the U.S. and Western Europe..."
USSR was an open, ideological rival to the USA--touted as Communism vs Capitalism.
But it was also Totalitarianism vs Democracy--where "democracy" was really "bureaucracy"--as defined by MW Unabridged--
"2 : systematic administration characterized by specialization of functions, objective qualifications for office, action according to fixed rules, and a hierarchy of authority"
Separation of powers Legislative, Executive Judicial; multilevels of government all with multilayers of review and appeal, a free press, transparency and government FOR common people--those original "Commonwealths".
USSRism corrupted communism--affirmative action for common people--feudalism's "commoners." And Capitalism USA corrupted democracy--it morphed into government FOR the 1%-- updating feudalism.
Putin did away with Marxist camouflage, turning State Capitalism into Oligarchy. USA Capitalists are steadily eating away at the US safety net--making workers serfs again and calling that "freedom".
But Putin has outmaneuvered and outbid US moneylords for the services of Republican politicians.
Khrushchev banged his shoe. Putin sends money, nerve agents and hackers. He obviously owns Trump. Who else? And those he doesn't own fear him. And with that he owns and manages the USA.
Stalin is envious in his grave.. But Marx is writhing in his.
8
One thing is for a truth: whatever comes out of this meeting, it will be a lie.
MB
17
Reading this article, which includes the Russian statements which are given by them, compared with the old fashioned Soviet statements, there is no difference.
Almost two years into his Presidency, Trump doesn't have what it takes to be a real US President, and hold the line with Putin and Russia. No other US President has ever capitulated to Russia given these circumstances.
If Trump agrees with their former, Soviet dribble, and complies, he is a coward and is committing treason against our country, as well.
Instead, he should be demanding admission, capitulation and contrition from Russia, for their multiple cyber invasions of the US. If not, let the games continue, and on with the sanctions, that Congress has demanded and should force Trump to implement them immediately.
8
trump keeps making excuses for Russia's bad behavior but said this about the European Union today in an interview on CBS:
"I think the European Union is a foe"
Why isn't this getting more attention? He is doing exactly what Putin wants him to do...
17
Let’s just call this treason. An American president acting without advice and counsel meeting in private with a foreign leader who is dedicated to the dissolution of international agreements and pacts designed to maintain world order. If not treason, what can it be called?
48
One of the journalists in Helsinki should ask Trump why he stopped the investigation into voter fraud that he used to be so obsessed with. Did he stop it because of 'political advice' from Putin?
13
It's very important for the two greatest nuclear powers to talk. In terms of history, our two nations have been the most aggressive on the world stage since the close of WWll. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the USA has gained ground in destruction & destabilization of world order.
Economic sanctions & condemnation of Russia are one thing, bellicose bi-partisan cold war renewal, with the two greatest nuclear powers on the face of the earth at odds with one another is unacceptable. And dangerous.
5
No one is suggesting "cold war renewal".
Ignoring Russia cyber attack to our electoral process would be similar to Chamberlain's appeasement.
There are valid reasons to be concerned that Putin is able to manipulate Trump.
12
Gee. I'm confused. I don't know whether to be more concerned about Russian attacks on "our electoral process" than that of the Republican Party on the same.
3
Traditional international warfare is now obsolete, it is no longer waged on the battlefield involving arms, armies, and armor. Far more damage to a sovereign enemy can be inflicted by meddling with the OS's that essentially run every wired corner of the world. Putin has at his disposal some of the best computer scientists/hackers in the world. The U.S. election meddling of 2016, along with Brexit, are just a test of this power. The ascendance of a moron to the U.S. Presidency and a now aimless, quickly becoming irrelevant UK (the two most important bastions of liberal democracy of the 20th century) are consequences of that test. Russia must be respected, and truly feared, indeed. To stop Russia's war on Western democracy and liberalism, facilitated through Trump, impeachment is now becoming increasingly necessary. It is absolutely astonishing how little sophistication Trump possesses in understanding the hard work and complexity in building and maintaining the political and economic structures that not only intended, but truly succeeded, in forwarding social and economic progress in the world. He is rapidly demolishing the Western heritage that started so gloriously in what, the Enlightenment? It was a good run.
9
President Trump does one thing very well: he knows how to distract the American people. Last week many Americans were upset with his choice of an extreme right Supreme Court Justice. Now, we are worried about Putin and fewer people are focused on the Supreme Court controversies. The President will probably make some other outrageous statements this coming week that will result in less and less attention being given to the important Supreme Court nomination process. PAUL FEINER
8
"“We are witnessing something surprising, something that even the Soviet Union was not able to accomplish: Divide the U.S. and Western Europe. It didn’t work then, but it seems to be working with Mr. Trump now,” Tatyana Parkhalina, president of the Russian Association for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation, said on a recent talk show on state-run television."
Donald Trump, who is obsessed with his image, skills, and sense of exceptionalism is going to be sorry to his prayers for glory have been answered.
Not only will he go down in history as the worst US president in history, he'll claim his unique place as the weakest, most easily manipulated American leader, led around through the nose by a nouveau dictator trained by master spies from the old Soviet Union.
28
Putin and his oligarchs bought Trump many years ago. They were his source of funds when other banks wouldn't deal with him after all his bankruptcies. They bought his real estate for cash. Who know how much Trump owes them and what position he is in as far as being able to pay his bills.
13
Trump considers the EU to be a foe. The EU considers Trump to be a faux as well. A view shared by a majority of Americans.
14
Mr. Venediktov is provoking granting an American president powers parallel to those of Putin! That would be the tipping point past Democracy towards Authoritarianism.
3
Since his first week on the job, Trump's goal has been to suppress evidence of Russian spying and hacking gathered by our intelligence services, or at least to undercut it. Now his worst fears are realized: everybody in the world knows what the Russians did, how they did it, and who did it -- and he has to face his handler tomorrow. Putin isn't gonna like it, and Trump will have to endure a nasty tongue-lashing. Moreover, they will probably have to revise their original plans, and they've had no time to prepare, due to the timing of the Mueller/Rosenstein counter-offensive. Trump's already unstable behavior is likely to go completely off the rails after the upcoming meeting.
12
Our intelligence services have been fomenting terrorism since WWII. Read the history of the CIA. Then tell me if you are proud of our country!
The CIA and all of our Presidents since WWII have killed democracy in many countries. We installed dictators, killed Democratic leaders, fixed elections.
Why? We wanted slaves for our lifestyle. We wanted cheap oil. We wanted to look like we were the Worlds' Policeman.
Guess what? We are not! We are corrupt and complicit!
4
Equivocation, misdirection... Putin couldn’t have said it better.
7
This is a historic meeting with unlimited consequences and ramifications for the future and must be recorded, especially under overwhelming clouds of suspicion. This meeting must be made public.
14
We Americans have to ask; are we a free nation of democracy under the light of truth, or will we become an entirely secret society?
4
This is an unbalanced meeting in that Putin is a seasoned leader with expansionist goals as indicated by his interference in Ukraine and theft of Crimea, in addition to his presence in Syria, bordering our ally Israel, and his major destruction of the American 2016 election and our civil peace, that Trump has also seriously divided Americans. I don't need to see Trump indicted or impeached to know he has committed grave crimes against our nation and it's civil peace. Under great pressure from Americans, Trump has still chosen to turn the other cheek to the man who destroyed American social harmony. It was good for the lesson to turn the other cheek, but these circumstances are just too unforgivable. I would never profess conflict between our two nations, but isolation is the only way to bridle Putin and his expansionist strategy. Trump should have been convincing Europeans to disassociate from Russia and be independent from the still viral K.G.B. of Soviet times, still alive and well in Putin. He chose to alienate allies.
There is a factor to remember that is relevant in this controversy and that is Secretary of State Clinton's public remarks about the Russian election during her tenure that enraged Putin and Russians aligned with him, in support of the opposition. But those were public comments, not as serious as electronic warfare conducted widespread to change our democracy to a near monarchy.
5
England is a monarchy and this situation would not have happened in England because they have a Parliament that can and would override the Queen if she stepped out of line which she would never dream of doing.
2
Putin OWNS Trump - Period.
16
That's like your opinion, man.
Show some proof!
3
@RP
Why?
If I showed you a video of Trump taking a suitcase full of money from Putin and saying, "I'll do anything you want Vladimir, as long as you get me elected!" - It wouldn't make any difference. It would simply be more "fake news" to the true-believers, because no amount of evidence will ever convince them.
Unfortunately for Trump, it's a lot easier getting supporters to believe that the truth is really a lie by calling it "fake news", than it is to get criminal courts to believe that conspiracy, money laundering, fraud, and obstruction of justice are just "fake laws".
1
Don't forget what Obama was saying when he was caught with an open mic - I can be more "flexible" after the election. Did the Russians help Obama beat Hillary in the primaries? You never know!
1
Mr. Trump should not be permitted to meet alone with Mr. Putin. The national security risk is significant. At a prior meeting he accidentally revealed valuable top secret information. Since then he has in essence made clear that he is willing and able to destroy modern democracy and liberalism. He conspired--in the everyday sense of that word--with Russia to steal a democratic election--treason. Trump has done nothing about continuing and future Russian attempts to interfere in our democratic elections. In fact, it looks like he hopes it will happen again--on his behalf. Despite his dishonest claims, Trump has behaved as a Russian agent.
22
The GOP is accountable for this. Its job is to be a check and balance and it refuses to do this. They are complicit and should be held accountable. Are you calling your members of Congress and demanding they do their job? They work for you. When will we march on Washington?
31
Trump is beholden to Putin on a personal level (the only level that matters to him) because of money laundering. It's not about women urinating on a mattress. He doesn't care if his actions bring down the country, he only cares about himself.
9
POTUS will receive a lesson in diplomacy from a vicious tyrant. Trump will not even know he has been made to look foolish.
The press is not the enemy of the American people. Trump is.
20
There is absolutely no reason for national leaders to avoid meeting and trying to gain confidence in each other. Each notion gains, no nation loses when the leaders of America and Russia meet.
1
Not if they meet alone with no witnesses. Not when Russia has interfered with our elections. Not when trump will not release his taxes, which suggest that he is covering up his personal financial relationships with Russia.
8
Hey Nancy, I agree. Maybe Trump might give that a try with our allies.
13
Like when he gave the Russian Foreign Minister classified information the last time they met, Nancy? The actual problem is that Trump is an easily played idiot (basically the opposite of clever Putin who will play chess to Trump's checkers) and nothing Donald has said indicates the slightest comprehension of the extremely high stakes at play. An attack on our democracy barely merits a shrug? Apart for his predisposition for strongmen and his long held desire to build a Trump Tower in Moscow, why does meeting Putin seem to be the singular focus of such an easily distracted fool? Something stinks.
13
Trump is already acting like Putin's Stooge and doing his bidding by labeling the European Union our trading foe.
I would say they are our Trading partners, you are the one trying to pick a fight with our friends, you dope Trump.
9
In the beginning,
there was faith, which is childish;
trust, which is vain;
and illusion, which is dangerous.
Elie Wiesel "Night"
#NeverAgain2018
#StopFascism2018
#VoteBlue2018
November 6, 2018
11
I’m learning to like discussing Trump now that I’ve learned the secret how to. This came as my wife was absorbed watching MSNBC and I merely mentioned his name. The reaction was vitriolic, to say the least after the mindset they can put one in. I realized her’s was reminiscent of the time the mouse ran across the kitchen floor. Over-reaction, to say the least and not very rational, but to her that mouse was Satan. Substitute mouse/rat for Satan, Satan for Trump, the order doesn’t matter the involuntary reaction is the same. So whenever she and I talk about him now, I just picture the rats I watch eating bird seeds behind the garage and it’s fine. I hope the two rats have a nice meeting tomorrow.
6
Trump is already sounding like Putin's Stooge by calling NATO our foe.
15
Lordy, I hope there are tapes.
41
I wonder if Putin has buyer's remorse. Trump may be less like the perfect conspirator puppet Vlad has on his wish list and more like a wonky-wheeled clown car that can't drive straight.
I cringe thinking about the happy couple having some alone time in romantic Finland.
Who knew hope was spelled "Special Counsel"?
1
Let's take it as a given that neither Trump nor anyone in his campaign had any knowledge of or in anyway colluded in Putin's push to get Trump elected. Let's say that Putin doesn't have a pee-pee tape of Trump to blackmail Trump with (at this point it's not much worse than anything else our embarrassment of a president has done anyway).
Republicans should still ask themselves WHY did Russia, our enemy, want Trump as president rather than Clinton? Isn't obvious that Clinton would be the much stronger foe than Trump and that THAT is why they wanted Trump rather than her. She is smart and he is stupid. Trump has weakened America at every step. We are the laughing stock of the world - we look like idiots. Our president is a big fat embarrassment.
32
Our problem with Germany in the 1930’s was not that FDR and Hitler did not get along. It was our moral - and accurate - view of Germany’s/Hitler’s behavior. Given current Russian leadership’s behavior, we should have a problem with Russia. This is almost grammar-school-obvious. Trump tries to re-define the problem - to his and Putin’s benefit. That will allow him to claim an “accomplishment” with this thug where none is desirable or possible, given Russian behavior and leadership. But our children’s futures may be seriously impacted. We are left to hope for the operation of mere incompetence and not treason.
7
If it was you or I, suspected in a treasonous felonious conspiracy, and we attempted to meet with our co-conspirators - alone, and out of site, we'd be stopped by the legal system ...
Why does the obviously compromised traitor, Trump, get away with this continuation of his conspiracy with the Russians?
We need new laws!
Mueller, if you have the evidence to charge this despicable traitor for even a single crime, charge him today!
We're running out of time!
23
I think some objectivity is relevant in assessing this visit. If we can recall Obama was caught assuring the Russian leader that he will be more flexible after the elections. At least Trump stated no agenda. He does not care for Crimea. He thinks bringing Russia back to G8 makes sense. He does not care what EU thinks. He said as much when he was there last week. Actually even Obama did not care for EU that much - he was bugging Merkel's phones. At least we know what Trump wants. I am not sure what Obama wanted to give up at that time. And imagine where we would be if Hillary was President. All in all I am not worried. I am worried about what is happening in the Middle East. Hostilities have broken out again and I am worried about what Iran is up to these days. The best way to keep Russia in check is to keep a barrel of oil at $50. Perhaps we should let Iran sell some oil and watch them at the same time. It is back to oil, stupid!
1
Putin is NOT a great leader of a great nation. the long-suffering people are great, the Kremlin NOT. Trump out of his depth and the 1:1 is beyond the pale. how the aides can (and do) stand by and not be stripped of every ounce of their professional integrity and self-esteem is beyond comprehension.
28
What is missing in all analyses is the simpel conclusion that Trump is grateful to Putin for helping him win the elections. And he certainly hopes that this assistance will keep on coming this year and 2020.
Trump is transactional, he does not care about your country, is unethical , corrupt and sees patriotism as something for losers.
57
I find it astounding that nearly all comments are quick to join in the frenzy to vilify Russia and Putin as if the Cold War was on full bore.
The US and Russia each have vital interests that intersect and a collaborative or at minimum not adverserial relationship seems a good thing.
6
Trump is a traitor. He is meeting with Putin to give his report, get his new marching orders, and sell us out.
When he is asked how the meeting went, he will say it was great and that he got along well with the great leader Putin.
If he is asked about accomplishments is specific terms, there will be no response.
Putin's puppet is doing his assigned job.
30
We know that Obama was not up to the task when he negotiated with Putin over Syrian's use of poisonous gas.
Trump can not do any worse.
I am willing to bet Trump will do a better job.
He already has accomplished more with North Korea and with NATO after a year and a half in office then Obama did in eight years.
I do not like Trump as a person and I think he is very bad for the country when it comes to domestic issues.
I liked Obama but I always thought he was out of his league when it came to foreign affairs.
Trump is not much better but he is better but liberals are incapable of admitting that fact.
At least give Trump a chance.
He most likely will fail but so did Obama and the liberal press did not ostracize or demean him because he failed.
Trump hasn't failed yet but you are doing both things to him.
This tells me that liberals have a disconnect between what is real and what they think is real.
This story is fake news.
Unless you have a magic ball that can you what will happen in the future then anything you write is not news by definition and does not belong in the paper.
4
lucky said "He already has accomplished more with North Korea and with NATO after a year and a half in office then Obama did in eight years."
Nonsense. Delusional Donald signed a document that basically says "We will agree to agree at some undefined time in the future about undefined subject matter."
What did that accomplish?? NOTHING.
51
Expectations that Trump is trying to extract concessions from Putin is folly. Trump has no intentions of any such thing. There is nobody witnessing the meeting except interpreters. They are talking business. Their business, not the Nation’s. Trump is Putin’s Toady, sycophant if you like. Trump is the kisser in this relationship.
12
Trump and Putin know exactly how the world will be feeling as it waits for them to emerge from their private meeting. Fear and insecurity will grip all nations as the minutes' tick by waiting for that door to open. The president of the United States and a murdering dictator sharing their joy in the fright they cause is something to remember.
10
Putin is a despot who kills any opposition. Trump is an idiot who does Putin bidding whether knowingly or not. One thing that Putin should realize is that the people of United know exactly who is is. He has robbed his own country to become a billionaire, killed his adversaries and become a tyrant. Trump is out in left field when dealing with Putin.
16
This is profoundly appalling. It manages to highlight the "deep-state conspiracy" angle shared by Trump and Putin, without connecting the dots to suggest that this shared stance is itself a giant favor to Putin from Trump. Every day Trump pushes this conspiracy theory is another day he covers for Russian attacks on the US, and aids and abets ongoing instances of those attacks. Don't trust me about those attacks. Ask Dan Coats, former conservative Republican senator and now Director of National Intelligence.
Stop treating this as normal diplomacy. Stop it. This summit is yet another favor to Putin, returning the help Putin gave Trump in the election. Trump's behavior looks exactly like treason. This is an enormous crisis. Your reportage here fails utterly to come up to the mark.
This Daily Beast writer connects the dots. It's not very hard to do.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-way-trump-and-the-gop-deal-with-russia...
13
Trump is the best asset Putin has ever had. A gold mine Putin never imagined in his wildest dreams was possible.
10
Sung to tune of "Friend of the Devil" by the Stones:
I trashed our allies but I'll take my time
A friend of Putin is a friend of mine
If I can Mueller before daylight
I might just get some sleep tonight...
2
The Rolling Stones song is " Sympathy For The Devil " .... the Song you are referring to is by the Grateful Dead
5
Trump : paid Russian stooge OR absurdly idiotic ??? I'll go with BOTH.
Seriously.
16
Trump's trip to Europe is 'America first' explained. As a trading block the EU is a match for the US, whilst America is far more powerful than any of the EU’s constituent nations. Ergo Trump takes every opportunity to destabilise Europe in order to gain negotiating advantage.
By contrast Russia, with an economy about the size of Italy’s, is much less of an active threat. Russia’s one trick is its immense nuclear arsenal which ‘America First’ theory seeks to neutralise by reducing any possibility conflict. This includes handing Syria over to Russia to deal with and the de facto acquiescence of Russia's annexation of Crimea irrespective of legality.
The problem is that Trump thinks tactically and not strategically. The medium to long term threat to US dominance is not the EU or Russia, but China. Whereas Russia, and prior to that the Soviet Union had military power their economies were relative basket cases. China is going to become the first full spectrum competitor the US has ever faced.
Rather than build on its alliances with the other democracies and enmesh China in the rules based system of international relations the US has fostered since the Second World War, Trump is attacking the very institutions and rules of the system.
Absent America's rules of the road agreed over 70 years, China may impose its own rules. And when a market of 1.3 Billion eventually takes on a market over 350 million the odds are staked on the other side of the Pacific.
2
My only disagreement with your comment is the idea that Trump thinks
4
Why would anyone expect Donald Trump to say anything about the Russian Hacking of the 2016 election to Vladimir Putin. Trump was his partner in crime on the hacking. Trump had his surrogates make all the contacts so he can have plausible deniability in case this act of Treason comes crashing down. Well the rafters are burning and the foundation is starting to crumble big time. We expect Mueller to release many indictments to come out within the next month on a large numbers of Americans collaborators who conspired with the Russians with the full knowledge of Donald Trump. No other word but Treason is at Issue Here.
5
We are not saying he should not meet with world leaders. That he is meeting with Putin ALONE, without witnesses, is extremely troubling. That he has not released his taxes suggests that he is covering up personal financial deals with Russia that are quite possibly treasonous.
14
Not Logical. What Trump has done with Every Other country is by definition isolationist. To then say, "Let's open up to Russia." as the proof of not being isolationist is only describable as absurd.
That you are rationalizing this suggests you are in thrall to Trump's cult of personality. His actions, as president, regardless of what happened in the election, Are collusion with Russia. IF Obama had alienated and started trade wars with virtually every other country in the world except Russia, especially including our allies against Russia(!), would you have said "Hey, give Obama credit, that sounds like a good idea!" ? I suspect not. Which means you need to examine your status regarding the cult of personality. Are you aware you are in it?
7
I fully expect to wake up tomorrow and find out that Trump has sold Alaska back to the Russians for a watch and some beads.
But seriously, maybe we can keep him from crossing back into the US. Tell him we'll mail him his clothes to him in Russia.
12
Let’s acknowledge the truth.
Crimea is never going back to Ukraine. The eastern portion of Ukraine is never going to rejoin the rest of the country. Russia isn’t going to leave Syria or stop supporting Assad.
This isn’t legal, right, and/or fair. It just is.
Neither the U.S. nor Europe has the military firepower or willpower to change this reality. We have financial firepower in the form of sanctions to hurt Russia, but these too are insufficient to dislodge them from these regions. And eventually, Europe will waiver on these sanctions under the pressure of their industries seeking export markets.
The only solution is to deal and reach an agreement. The only question is what we will get in exchange for normalizing relations.
The groundwork for this agreement has been laid with the recent visits of Merkel, Macron, Netanyahu, and a group of U.S. Republican senators to Moscow. President Trump will (hopefully) agree to something within whatever parameters have been set.
More importantly, our European and Canadian allies must meet their defense spending commitments to deter future Russian actions in the Baltics, Ukraine (not including the eastern portion), and elsewhere. In the U.S., we must harden our voting infrastructure and limit Russia’s social media influence.
Like it or not, an agreement is coming soon.
2
Russia will leave both Ukraine and Crimea as well as Syria. The reason is Russia's economy is collapsing. Russia is unable to keep up with developed countries are there technologically nor economically and is running out of money. It's SU 57 Fighter is an admission that it's a joke. All we have to do is continue to grind Russia down economically and eventually the Assad's will be thrown out of Syria and that with them will go the Russians. Russia is not a great power and Putin is not a great leader.
4
Bill:
I love your optimism and would welcome that outcome.
Unfortunately, it's never going to happen. Putin's level of control and Russians' almost superhuman ability to suffer ensure it.
Sorry for being a downer.
2
Syria maybe, but Russia will never leave the Crimea.
Hint: The Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol.
If Putin wins just by sitting down, may I suggest that he arranges for a chess game to be set up on the table twixt himself and the President. His first words,
"Black or White, Mr. President?"
Trump hopes to befriend Putin. Putin is a murderer and certainly no friend of America. As American adversaries go Putin is probably one of the most slimy out there. But then Trump isn't exactly the essence of integrity. Together they are just two worthless peas in a pod.
7
i am not against any meetings we have with other countries leaders, but I don't understand the need to have the one on one meeting without history recordings of what was disgust. That doesn't mean what was discussed is for everyone's ears, if its determined to be classified talks okay, but they should be documented. Heck just about any time I make a phone call to ask questions or get information about anything, I am told that the conversation maybe recorded, for use later. So trump wanting to meet alone only continues the suspicion Americans have about his relationship with Putin and Russia. I only know Russia isn't our friend or ally, and should not be trusted.
2
Trump has a golden opportunity to shower Mr. Putin with questions about Russian hacking. He will not and there is a clue in this comment as to why.
12
Brilliant, Sir.
3
This by itself, and regardless of any previous interaction, is collusion with Russia against the US. What does it take?
Does anyone, and I mean anyone at all, imagine Russia wants to forward the interests of the US in any conceivable way? It would appear the only person in the world who thinks that is Trump.
What does it take to see what is happening here? How egregious does it have to get? This is only supported by Trump'c cult of personality and gerrymandering. Can you visualize the response to this behavior if Obama did it? The armed insurrection would have already happened!
12
Putin is putting the world on notice that he owns the (illegitimate) American President, Donald J. Trump.
But, yes, and then what?? what does Putin get for that ownership? What tangible stuff? What is the bigger picture? What difference will this make 10- 20- years down the road? When "Trump" is gone and Putin is a very old man? What are we missing about all this that makes it so compelling to them?
2
The argument that Trump should not meet with or talk to other world leaders is isolationist.
The argument that Trump should not meet with Russia because Democrats are still not over the PTSD caused by the incessant Russia baiting in the MSM, and in fact a good many still even believe “The Dossier” might be real.
Trump has been put in the difficult position of having to attempt to explain and apologize for the mass hysteria whipped up against Russia by our media and the mass delusion that Russia and Trump colluded to steal Hillary’s crown perpetrated on MSM flunkies.
3
Expressed well. Right on. Thank you.
1
Ronald Regan would be ashamed of you.
Not Logical. What Trump has done with Every Other country is by definition isolationist. To then say, "Let's open up to Russia." as the proof of not being isolationist is only describable as absurd.
That you are rationalizing this suggests you are in thrall to Trump's cult of personality. His actions, as president, regardless of what happened in the election, Are collusion with Russia. IF Obama had alienated and started trade wars with virtually every other country in the world except Russia, especially including our allies against Russia(!), would you have said "Hey, give Obama credit, that sounds like a good idea!" ? I suspect not.
4
When I read the newspapers today, I find myself dreaming again that Hillary Clinton had won the 2016 election. Sigh for the peace we might have had.
7
Putin's Agenda:
Destabilize, Divide and Weaken America
Erode American trust in its Intelligence Community
Erode American trust of the Amercan Media
Destroy Western Alliances
Destroy American Trade Agreements
Infect and Sow distrust in the American Elective Process
Destroy American military capabilities in Europe, the Middle East, and the Korean Penninsula
Trump's Agenda:
The Same
Follow the Money Mr Mueller...
12
"Putin comes out ahead"
Well, it's a good question, comes out ahead with what?? What tangible benefits does Putin get? Can some make assumptions? All of this stinks to high heavens, of course, but we gotta start asking ourselves "WHAT are they getting??" What is it that is so worth disrupting the global power structures? Where is all of this taking us to?
Why does our president continue to believe that the quality of the personal relationship between Russia and himself is of any real significance. Who care if he and Putin give each other back rubs in the sauna? its only important to Trump.
What is important is the relationship between the two nations, and they are showing a great deal of disrespect. Real leaders and professionals set aside their own egos to get the job done.
Trump may be one day away from violating his Oath of Office. The world will see and hear him speak. He can say, "fake news" as many times as he cares to, but the world will have the audio-visual evidence.
7
Yeah, I'm suspicious of the Trump-Putin bromance, too. Neither leader shows any more than lip-service to issues like human rights and ensuring the integrity of democratic voting system. Both are more inclined toward repression than in facilitating a civil society governed by the rule of law.
To me, it's not what Trump might sell us out on that betrays this corruption, but the fact that he's the product of a system that has already sold out most Americans, just as most Russians must feel about what Putin has done for them.
Thus my disgust is deeply rooted, not a product of figuring out who our fairweather friends are and are not.
Heck no, the GRU should not be some sort of super-delegate to either party's convention. What I really want isn't one or the other, whether Dems, Reps, or Russians. I want a party that represents the American people, not some elite imposition, which is likely what we would have got if the Russians hadn't been so hard at work behind the scenes.
Srsly, does anyone really believe the US doesn't do pretty much the same thing when it suits the president's purposes? It's laughable that we should try to stake out some high moral ground on the promotion of democracy. There is very little evidence of that as anything other than what suits the US, goes. Ask the CIA.
Are most Republicans Russian dupes? No more than they're capitalist dupes, but that is the problem. Hearing the Dems want to out-Cold War the R's? Get serious, that's as dumb as it was in '47.
2
Mike, I agree with you, I think. The USA has been
the ugly American when it suits the nefarious ones here. And I too want a government that actually represents the people. We do not deserve the moral high ground. Yes America has at times done wonderful and selfless acts in the world and at home. And Hillary was no match for Trump in corruption and incompetence and stupidity,but she carried her own big donors on her well shod back,breathing down her neck to do their bidding, not to mention her foundation and Bill's speaking engagement which bought favors for those who donated a lot or hired Bill for big bucks. She was not about to represent the people either, well the elite people only. Get money our of politics and hey make congress have the same healthcare as the rest of us regular folks huh?
2
cd,
Appreciate the reply.
Wanted to followup with one point I didn't have room to make earlier. Much as Trump sickens me, he's been willing to talk with people, some of them, when it suits his needs. Thus Chairman Kim and President Putin are on Trump's friends list.
The thing I find irritating is that Obama had the courage to say he was willing to do the same thing and did so, if in a far less bombastic manner than Trump. And Obama caught lots of flak for that position. He probably would have done more, but couldn't in the face of manifest footdragging by Rs and even many Ds.
We should all realize that refusing to talk is far more negotiating tactic than high principle, allowing those who refuse to do so to claim it as a high moral ground. It's not, it's stalling and a refusal to engage with difficult issues.
Oddly, this is one thing that Obama did that Trump doesn't just decide to jettison as one more thing to blame on Obama as he ducks his own responsibility for events.
I just can't see criticizing Trump over doing what some of the more thoughtful observers of foreign policy praised as a much needed change under Obama.
I understand the suspicions about the Russians. Maybe the FBI should tap Trump's offices just to be sure he's doing the people's business? Problem is I trust the FBI just slightly more than the White House to do that. Yet folks are trying to get me to take sides?
I think we need a whole new gov't, just don't need Moscow's help to do it.
1
Does anyone else think Putin will be wired to record whatever is said?
1
If Trump meets with Putin and does anything other than present the DOJ indictment of the 12 Russian intelligence officers and demand their extradition to the U.S., he is giving aid and comfort to our enemy.
8
Trump is the kind of guy who would blame you if he robbed your house because your defenses were not strong enough.
He is the kind of guy who would blame his victim of sexual assault because they did not resist strongly enough. It's not just the depravity of it, what's astounding is that some buy his lies and filthy reasoning.
12
Where were all these readers when Bush-Cheney invaded an entire region and were killing innocent Iraqis by the thousands? A crime they've yet to answer for--Leavenworth. Putin did what, grabbed Crimea?
7
We were hear. Loud and Proud.
It is not difficult to comprehend why Trump is dissing everything about Europe, the EU and NATO. He is Putin’s toady because Russia owns him financially and Trump can split the Allies by attacking and denigrating all the links between the US and Europe. Putin could not be more pleased with Trump’s efforts.
8
On Google Maps, just north of the Turnberry Hotel is a big outlined earthworks triangle, with golf links on the interior and clustered around the edges of the triangle. https://goo.gl/maps/t53zkQgM2r32
Does anyone know what is the purpose of the triangle?
I thought the Cold War ended 27 years ago. I was so wrong! Just leave it to the US corporate media to keep it going, this being a good example.
5
NATO is a tool for US aggression in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria. NATO gives US war of choice a veneer of legitimacy.
the corporate media is nothing but stenographer for the MIC.
1
No. It’s just that Russia interfered substantially in our election. Dem or Rep, if that doesn’t bother you nothing obviously will.
4
Interfered substantially? By revealing via Wikileaks the corruption inside the DNC and the Clinton campaign? I welcome that sort of interference any day of the week. That should have been our media digging that up.
Unfortunately the "let bygones be bygones" is exactly what a newly elected Mr. Obama said about the Iraq War debacle—
And caused me great distress.
No investigation of his predecessor George W. Bush or public accounting of this war crime calamity. Even our British allies undertook a full investigation of accomplice Tony Blair and his government.
There is no such thing as "let bygones be bygones" with these kinds of crimes.
8
Could Trump's payback for his loyalty to Putin and disruption of the EU be a Moscow Trump Hotel as well as the 2016, 2018, and 2020 elections? Uh-uh. Trump will owe Putin much more, a very frightening thought.
3
I don't don't understand why there isn't more urgency in the media and among politicians of either party about the Russian interference in the 2016 election and their plans to disrupt this year's mid-terms. This is war, isn't it? This is the war of the "future." And it's happening right now. And we are ignoring it. What is the Commander in Chief doing about this attack? Where is the alarm, the strategic planning, the commitment of resources? What is the media, the Congress, the President waiting for? It's as if 9/11 happened and everyone shrugged.
14
The GOP is riding Trump’s coat tails for better or worse. They are so concerned about losing their control of Congress, the spineless hucksters cannot decide whether should stay with Trump or censure him. Making good policy or good decisions about the Nation’s well being are off the table.
1
Actually the USA did shrug in the aftermath of 9/11. We attacked two countries which had nothing to do with the 9/11 disaster. In other words, our President Bush relied on the intelligence of the CIA, the single most corrupt institution since WWII.
Read the history of the CIA. Read about how our Democratic, freedom-loving gov't installed dictators, rigged elections, killed numerous national leaders because they would not bow down to our Presidents.
Then look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself how proud you are to be an American!
1
Remember when 9/11 did happen and liberals wanted to turn the other cheek. What kind of message does it send if someone kills thousands of your people and you don't go to war?
1
I have a deeper and deeper fear about this.
When he was running, I was very skeptical that someone without ANY political experience or knowledge of what it take to survive inside the Beltway could lead the most powerful military and economic country in the world.
And even after watching his rallies and the "Jail her now" chanting and his tendency to avoid facts and truths, since he did gather a minority of voters but was able to garner the Electoral College, so be it. I wished the best for the USA, which was, by the way, already great on January 19, 2017.
But his claims to fame are now a lot of EO's that can be tossed out, a tax deal for corporations and the richest that, together with his hundreds of billions more for macho military stuff, will add trillions to our total debt, but NOTHING of substantial progress that had not been started under President Obama ... or President Bush, for that matter.
He claims the "best ever" and "like no one else" and then trickles down to "we'll see" and when nothing of significance happens , he lays the blame elsewhere or just says he tried, unlike anyone else. And blames and accuses everyone else.
And yet, it appears that a whole lot of people still like him because he's just so much a straightforward and down to earth guy.
6
I have lived long enough to have seen this story before: The Russians are diabolical geniuses who if we make one wrong move they will have us. The truth is that Russia will always be a second rate power compared to the USA: It wouldn't matter if a 5 year old negotiated with them, it wouldn't change much at all in reality. So lets talk to them because they have thermo- nuclear warheads pointed at us. I couldn't care less what they do in Crimea or Western Ukraine. Lets make it as easy on them as we can. Do you really wan't to antagonize someone who can destroy the world. Get some perspective.
4
CBH, It seems as though we do indeed have a five year old negotiating with them.
7
Yes indeed, but like I said I don't think it will matter much.
Given that the last president though Russian problems were 20 years in the past when he debated Romney in the run up to the 2012 election, why should you or we care now?
2
H.L. Mencken warned that "the whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." We have not seen this level of mobilized demonization of a non compliant national leader since the Kaiser.
3
Not just non-compliant. Incompetent, dangerous, and destructive.
This picture says it all!
All Trump is missing is his pen and notepad....
2
Yes, and I was right about that, too.
There are ways to engage without legitimizing. I prefer those. Thanks for asking. Have a blessed day!
Putin is going to eat Trump for lunch. Trump is dangeroully out of his league. Putin's leverage over Trump is about money. Mueller's investigation will soon expose the nefarious financial dealings between Trump and Russian oligarchs. Trump is severely compromised. What else can explain his treatment of our allies and his support of Putin. The real question is what are the American people going to do about it in 2018 and 2020 ?
16
The NYTimes declares victory for Putin before the meeting starts. I am shocked to think that people think this newspaper is biased.
4
How many times now has the media predicted an outcome and been wrong? This time is no different. Its predictions are always of the most negative outcomes. And Trump's critics pile on as though they outcomes have already materialized. Of course, they rarely do.
2
Trump rants about football players not standing for the National Anthem and his followers wave their flags and roar their approval.
Trump capitulates to the Russian military and his followers....crickets.
What real American patriots they be.
33
I find these “summit” meetings somewhat amusing. What can Trump say that he can’t tweet or text? Or is this just one of those “looking into each other’s eyes” kind of thing? It will certainly be a big payday tomorrow for pundits, caterers and dry cleaners.
3
Trump's actions are not those of a bumbling fool... No, they are too consistent and directional...
Trump's actions are those of a compromised traitor.
36
You said the same thing about North Korea. I assume you don’t want him sitting down with anyone and prefer confrontation.
3
I don’t want him sitting down ALONE with anyone. That he won’t release his tax records suggests that he has something to hide. Perhaps treasonous.
16
Trump got nothing from Kim and gave him legitimacy on the world stage. Trump also cancelled joint exercises while Kim hasnt stopped his nuclear program and says he wont stop. Trump is a fool!
10
Enough. I refuse to vote for president if the Democrats nominate Biden or Clinton. Enough! (PS: What does this have to do with Putin, you ask -- the Democratic Party is led by dinosaurs who would have us in a war over the Crimea).
4
The Democratic Party was dealt a fatal wound in Nov 2016. It is now a dying dinosaur, which will never regain more power. Unfortunately, The Party will continue to be a decrepit, flaccid remnant of its former self for the next 20 - 30 years.
The Democratic Party will fall further behind in the Nov 2018 elections, mainly because the people who vote will see that the Democratic Party is not a choice, but the worse alternative. The massive voting bloc of people under 40 cannot detach themselves from their phones and on-line porn long enough to register and vote.
Your best hope is to work to form a Party which will represent its' voters, not the ruling class which can buy and monopolize the agenda.
3
Apparently, you don't know many people under 40.
China is not an American ally. The Times should know better.
3
In return for Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, Putin will continue to withhold any kompromat and may even lower the interest rate on Trump's loans. It's a win-win!
3
The damage the blundering lumbering Trump has caused—
Is staggering.
Our government and Constitution are designed to prevent such wholesale destruction unless—
An entire major political party with control of a branch of government is complicit.
34
Speaking of control, we should probably give credit where credit is due: to FOX 'news' -- the pro bono Propaganda Arm of the Republican Party.
Owning the so-called News is a major contributor to shaping the views / influencing many tens of millions of Americas. Being mis- or mal-informed is even more damaging to our Democratic Republic than being uninformed.
3
If nothing else, they need to get their stories straight.
2
trump better deliver to his puppet master, who thinks nothing of murdering his people. And trump is definitely is HIS.
3
It is a mystery what is in the mind of President Trump to meet with Putin. I am certain though that he does have an objective, and it is not just a publicity show, although that is always a big part of Trump's act.
It is crystal what Putin wants: Russia's claim to Crimea legitimized, sanctions lifted, and Ukraine kept out of both NATO and ESB permanently.
It will be interesting if he can sell Trump, the simpleton, on giving him all he asks in return for, say, Russia holding the line in Syria, something Putin has already promised the Israeli's. That would be Marriott style statesmanship; selling the same deal multiple times. I almost hope Putin pulls it off.
1
I’m glad the Times and others continue to describe Trump-related stories as taking place in reality. Trump and his base don’t live here. He knows he can go into summit meetings cold, for example, because he knows that when the meetings are done, regardless of what occurs, he will present a tale to his fans via FoxNews in which he was a big star and success. They will believe him. And their beliefs apparently determine the behavior of Republican lawmakers in DC and across the nation. So we must vote for the sake of reality as well as our country.
7
Putin would be a genius, when asked at a press conference about election hacking, if he were to say "Yes, we hacked. Indeed,we were only following the direct request to us on American TV from the now POTUS asking us to hack Hillary. We only obliged trump. If you have a problem with that, talk to trump." Then again, maybe not. Trump is not finished destroying American and the Western alliance.
5
This is nonsense. The clout that Putin gains is incidental to the real agenda. This is a business meeting. The press must act cautiously and not make claims that cannot be substantiated, but come on folks.....I can find no rational explanation for the two of them to meet without witnesses, that's right, without witnesses, than for them to do business; specifically business we are not supposed to know about but one hopes Mueller already does.
The agenda that they want to keep private may include:
1- Thanks for fixing the 2016 election for me.
2- I'm working on getting those sanction lifted, and if I dismantle any sense of truth in American discourse, I'll be able to sell it soon.
3- That's why it's important that we keep the House and Senate Republican majority. What are you doing to fix the 2018 election?
4- My businesses still need loans and bailing out from Russian banks. How much financial help can you get me?
5- If you get me the 2018 election, I can absolutely make Crimea yours in the eyes of the world.
What in the history of Trump that we already know about makes this very private meeting explainable in any other way?
21
DLNYC, you nailed it buddy.
If Trump reads this he'll think Melania is leaking because this is exactly what he scribbled into the palm of his hand.
3
In November, voters need to remember that the Republicans have turned a blind eye to all Trump’s crimes and transgressions. They have defended him and sought to derail Mueller. None of Trump’s atrocities could have been committed without the assistance of the GOP. All Republicans need to be defeated, even the so called “moderates.” A “moderate Republican “ is the ultimate oxymoron. Friends don’t let friends vote Republican.
9
If there is a new grand bargain, maybe let Russia have Central America to crush the drug cartels and gangs. Or is it better to just let the wound fester on its own?
1
Bob Mueller will only release his findings post the November elections. Meanwhile Trump will meet Putin (without aides of course) and ask that everything goes away. The Russians will have of course recorded the meeting. More ammunition on the buffoon than is possible. Wait for "I asked him directly -- how many times can I ask him"? He denies meddling in our election. And he has promised me cooperation in the economy and the nuclear threat from North Korea and reigning in Syria." What a buffoon.
4
Donald Trump is about to have the curtain pulled aside by Toto. It’s a wizard’s world, the world of high stakes foreign diplomacy. Trump operates in a parallel universe. I am not quite sure if his true allegiance is with the country he is president of or to the self-indulgence he finds so captivating as the news of his exploits plays out in the headlines. I certainly do not think he is ready or able to delve into the mind and motivations of Vladimir Putin. I do not think he has the courage or motivations to confront Putin over Russian election meddling or cyber espionage. However, I think he realizes the truth could slip out if he did and it may not be the same truth he wishes to see perpetuated. Thus, one on one, tete a tete, would be his safest bet though it disrupts the confidence of the real world.
3
Just sitting down and communicating and resolving differences peacefully and expressing discontent helps both Trump and Putin and their respective nuclear stockpile countries USA and Russia, they represent will help both come ahead.
Helsinki has been well known for the Helsinki declaration by the World Medical Association (WMA) as a statement of ethical principles for medical research involving humans.
The Helsinki Accords, Helsinki Final Act, or Helsinki Declaration was the final act of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe held in Finlandia Hall of Helsinki, Finland, during July and August 1, 1975.
The historic Helsinki summit beginning tomorrow will contribute to world peace with our president Trump and president of the Russian people, I predict will be a boost to glasnost (openness) between the 2 of the most powerful countries in the world.
Let us bless the summit with optimism and hope for better working relations and world peace.
3
Helsinki is the new Munich and Trump the new Chamberlain. “Peace in our time.” Yeah, Right. If Obama had done a tiny fraction of what Trump is doing to destabilize the world, the Republicans would have impeached him, no questions. It seems to me that Trump’s model for President is James Buchanan, who gave away US munitions to the Confederates before he left office.
7
Trump blaming Obama and the DNC for getting hacked is analogous to a rape defense based on the way a woman dressed. Blame the victims rather than the perpetrators - that’s signature Trump.
12
Worse attempt at an analogy ever!
President Obama did nothing when he learned of these activities. He sabotaged his own Party because he knew none of this stuff would ever sully his speaker fees that he will collect for the rest of his life.
2
And what, exactly has Trump done? He won’t even admit Russia interfered in our elections, so by your reasoning, there’s nothing for him to do. I think most Americans, and certainly our intelligence agencies, disagree.
2
Why does President Trump need to do anything?
OMG Soviets used Twitter and Facebook to manufacture discontent among American non-voters.
Our intelligence agencies have fomented terrorism in numerous countries since WWII. Read the history of the CIA, Why would any President trust those idiots?
Who cares who comes out ahead? It's meaningless.
2
I’m sorry but if the reverse were true and the republican party was the target of Russia they would be singing a different tune and no one but no one would be putting up with this.
16
It’s been clear for decades that Russia is an adversary. Trump should be outraged by the indictments released Friday. But no, he’ll go in and kiss Putin’s ring.
After all, nothing can get in the way of true love.
11
The BIG LIE since WWII has been that the Soviets are the USAs' mortal enemy.
How many elections, how many dictators, how many illegal gov'ts has the USA supported in the unholy war against Russia?
Read the history of the CIA, then look yourself in the mirror and ask Are we the Good Guys?
2
Another classic Trump “defense” - “We do bad things too.” Let’s look at the Russia interference in our 2016 election in isolation. They damaged the core of our democracy, the ability to cast a vote that matters in a free and fair election.
3
Sorry an event cannot be looked at in isolation to other events. The USA is the supreme bad guy in the world since WWII. We need to accept our damage to the Democratic Freedom-loving people of the world.
We damaged the core of numerous nations democracy. We need to accept our complicity.
If Mrs Clinton's campaign manager Podesta and her daughter Chelsea had secretly met with Russian government emissaries in the basement of their house , who had promised dirt on Trump and then denied and repeatedly LIED about ever having met them, I would have called that a collusion with Russia. Add to that the mountain of evidence about the campaign run by Russian state agents on social media for Trump and against Mrs Clinton, you are left with no doubt that this was collusion and conspiracy against America.
The only thing missing here, is a joint declaration by Putin and Trump saying they colluded.
9
same as with North Korea. such fanfare and hoopla, expecting miracles! And then? Zip.
But some people never learn, and as long as it SEEMS like they are presidential ... the facts confirm they are not and never will be.
Oh, how I miss the 2010s!
9
This is like a meeting with a chess master (Putin) with someone who kinda knows the basics of checkers or tic tac toe (Trump). What a waste of time and taxpayer resources.
11
This looks more like a mid-term performance review of Trump by Putin.
7
Two possibilities, not mutually exclusive.
1. Trump lives to troll mainstream media and politics, particularly the left. His embrace of Putin is part of this plan.
2. Trump is compromised by Russia -- at a minimum a useful idiot who is deeply in debt, at a maximum a full blown traitor.
11
Nobody knows what will happen. (One thing is certain, this paper and its writers have less than no idea as to how it will go. Just look at the history of predictions by the sagacious NYT.) President Trump is his own person, more than strong and more than capable. This paper is blinded by its own glaring bias to be able to predict with any reasonable accuracy.
6
Trump and Putin have so much to chat over caviar and Absolut- both serial psychopath billionaires leading rogue nations into the ground-
what else do they have in common? Both voted for Trump in the 2016 elections- both destabilized America. Both despise democracy and both hate America and never read the constitution.
Is this making America great again? This is Trump taking the country for a joyride, drunk on his own power
5
Trump continues to flummox and infuriate the old-school (foreign policy) establishment. Disdainful of his more personal approach, the sidelined wonks would have us believe that the wheels are about to come off following every Trump initiative. And to be precise, Trump has never called the "Russian investigation" a "witch hunt." What he does say is a witch hunt is that he or his campaign colluded with Russia. And since Mueller has come up empty on that score, he appears to be correct. Furthermore, Trump is not engaged in a "trade war" with any country. Since when is seeking reciprocity a "war"? The Trump-Putin summit should be more than an opportunity for the president's detractors to take cheap shots at the country's chief executive.
5
Ask the simple question, "Cui bono?" There is only one country that is benefiting from Trump's diplomatic revolution and trade wars. That country is clearly Russia. The US and its allies are being badly damaged. But even though Trump is clearly working for Putin, and policy is being dictated from Moscow, the Republicans in Congress do nothing to stop him, some even abet. Absolutely astonishing!
5
It's acutely obvious that Trump is ill-prepared and out of his league in this one. The likely upshot: Trump will cave to Putin's demands, "charm," and manipulation, with Trump emerging as self-victorious. Prepare yourself tomorrow for the self-congratulatory tweets for a meeting that will definitely be in Putin's favor. This one is so predictable, that it's not even worth betting on!
9
How stupid does the NY Times think the American people are? No one could possibly know who "comes out ahead" when two heads of state meet let alone Trump and Putin. Does it perhaps give Putin or anyone else Trump meets a little bit of additional prestige? Maybe, but so what? Facts matter more than the not really so liberal Left's obsession with transitory 'feelings'. If Hillary had been elected and was doing precisely the same thing she would have already have been nominated for the Nobel Peace prize for making an effort to make sacred, holy than thou PEACE with a former enemy! Remember how Democrats always make a fetish out of no-plan good intentions, and are cowardly anti war and contrary to international involvement when ever it seems they might have to personally risk their lives in a war? Interesting how Dems are so belligerent and macho now that there is little chance they will be drafted or that there will be a major war with Russia. Dems, however, are still abject cowards when it comes to standing up to China a much larger threat. Democrats are not witch-hunting for the thousands of the US traitors responsible for 4 decades of espionage and theft and curiously secret trade deals and "collusion" with China that must have taken place to so completely destroy the US middle class. And where is the dem outrage over China's conquest of Tibet, rape of surrounding nations forests, stealing their water, the international crime of claiming waters around and near other nations?
6
you don't need the NYT to remind us of the stupidity of Americans. we have Trump for that.
5
Has anyone considered that Trump might get us into deep conflict with Russia being brash as usual with Putin? Just like anyone else, I'm deeply resentful that Russia harmed our nation very badly, but there is still the idea of avoiding violent conflict.
I love the headline. It is the NY Times professional, diplomatic way of saying Trump is an ego maniac demagogue moron.
7
I have zero doubt that Russian intelligence will make a recording of the private meeting between Putin and Trump.
It will provide the Russians with a tremendous amount of leverage over him and - being Trump - he has no ability to imagine anyone outsmarting him.
The GOP told us to fear Obama mending fences with our allies after the debacle of the Iraq War squandered all of the post-9/11 goodwill. The GOP told us to fear Obama’s tan suit and choice of mustard. The GOP told us to fear getting health insurance. The GOP told us to fear a First Lady who suggested that children each vegetables. The GOP told us to fear Hillary Clinton and her email server.
The GOP is utterly silent as their president meets with a Russian spymaster who - let’s face it - is probably Trump’s boss, happy to lay out a strategy for what comes next.
I remember when that was the job of the American electorate.
22
Trump dearly wants approval from Putin, who, in Trump’s limited understanding, is the richest, most powerful, most interesting man 8n the world.
Trump has Daddy issues and Putin knows it.
7
Pray for our next election. Pray that Putin won't be able to fix it. Putin needs the Repubs to keep control of the House and Senate. That way he is assured that trump will remain in the White House.
5
There doesn't seem to be a strategy or an agenda proffered by Trump. He wants to be friends with Russia. That's nice, but what would be the grand bargain?
Putin is way smarter than Trump and in so has much more to gain. Trump doesn't have perspectives. He just likes making deals but so far little has been gained for the U.S.
Legitimacy is one of the big tangibles for Putin. He gets that from a subservient Trump.
If Trump were smart, and clearly he's not, he would have a team working up a plan and strategy to bring two nations closer together.
My fear is that like the so-called deal with NK, there are only optics and no substance.
Of course, whatever happens, Trump will lie and build up nothing into the best, greatest, finest, etc.
Seen this movie, know how it ends. Would be nice if something real and measurable were the result.
Not holding breath.
6
"The US is topping this, they have a russian sleeper as president, and they even dont realize it."
Many of us do, Christoph... Many of us do...
There is no other feasible explanation for his treasonous behavior.
5
Re: the accompanying article about the 55 year-old paraglider who was arrested for flying over the president's money-pit golf course with the banner "Trump below par." Why didn't Scottish authorities arrest Trump for his criminal role in degrading the environment? Police took away the wrong guy.
11
A former game show host is meeting one on one with a former officer of the KGB. Yeah, let that sink in.
One term.
70
Someone posted: A former game show host is meeting one on one with a former officer of the KGB. Yeah, let that sink in.
Nothing wrong with a former game show host. Look what a former B movie actor did with Mikhail Gorbachev.
By the way a former game show host was too much for Hillary Clinton to cope with, let that sink in.
1
Someone posted: A former game show host is meeting one on one with a former officer of the KGB. Yeah, let that sink in.
Nothing wrong with a former game show host. Look what a former B movie actor did with Mikhail Gorbachev.
By the way a former game show host was too much for Hillary Clinton to cope with, let that sink in.
1
Less than one term, please.
2
The evidence has been mounting for two years now...
And the only explanation that fits in with all of Trump's daily attacks, lies, and insults aimed at our allies and institutions, followed by his daily praises, lies, and actions on behalf of Russia, is he is indeed, a compromised traitor.
I've never been so sure of anything in my life.
Follow the money, Mr Mueller...
71
Mr. Putin has won already. In Helsinki, this thuggish and brutal dictator of sorts will deny and lie, and Trump will fold like a house of cards. The mere fact that the leader of (once) the most powerful democracy of the free world has harassed and impugned our European allies at every turn, through words as well as actions in the form of pulling out of global agreements, is close to the acme of desired achievements for Mother Russia. Putin is far ahead in deviousness and intelligence not only of Trump but also of a silent and cowardly Republican Congress. This KGB guy knows that at this point no one will get in the way of his pulling the strings of his very own puppet. This cruel power-hungry predator has the perfect prey in the form of a president who will sacrifice our democracy in order to pump up an unstable, sick, and inflated ego. The steroids he is being fed are as worthless as placebos. Such a fool...
6
Trump recently referred to Russia as a competitor, not a foe. Trump most recently called the EU a "trade foe". He is clearly trying to normalize Russia so if Mueller's investigation produces evidence that he was personally involved, his collusion with Russia in the 2016 election will not be seen as colluding with an enemy.
5
To re-purpose a ur-old joke format for immediate use:
"Two liars walk into a summit/meeting/conversation and....
2
How high would Mr. Putin's PR rating go if he just kept
Donald Trump? Please.
1
So much advice, so many smart people, so many "nuanced" arguments, such sophistication .... telling us what the President "doesn't understand" ...
And all of it is bla bla bla .... these are the same people who confidently predicted a HRC win, nay, a landslide, so their credibility is zero, or they are the Russian political opposition ... same low value ...
I don't think President Trump needs their advice. He can handle himself ... he's been much more right than wrong about most things .... and he doesn't seem to need to have his hand held ....
7
One on One Summit #2. The entire world watching Trump. Now that's ratings! This is the number 1 reason wants this meeting.
Trump has planned the total secrecy of the first part so he will be able to claim whatever makes him look best. Anything short of genius at work will be labeled fake news.
The rest of the summit will hopefully not amount to much of anything but a hey - isn't it great we're talking now!
Trump's narcissism is pulling him into this meeting despite all other worldly i.e. reality considerations. Trump did not become POTUS to represent American values or defend or protect the Constitution. His first concern has always been the promotion and profit of Donald J. Trump and the Oval Office was his next step to gain the power to do just that. His most successful action to date has been to give himself a huge tax cut. And free publicity for the Trump Brand. Since he won't release his tax returns, his profit so far can not be measured.
As far as politics, for Trump it's an easy game to be played and he is slaying it with media domination. Promise them anything for votes and blame someone else.
Both Trump and Putin are incredibly greedy men. If Putin promises Trump more money in private, what will Trump do? I would be on him folding like a cheap suit and selling America. Maybe he will be offered gold shares like the Brexit guys were.
We will never know.
2
Have been watching the Deep State's obsession with - at any cost - not having Trump talk with Putin...
Question is - why...
By now and by the event timeline, game-theory suggests that Putin will divulge to Trump the mirror-like agency involvement in Russian elections earlier this decade vs the indictments which coincidentally appeared less than a week before this 1:1 and more than a year after all the facts were at hand...
Down to the level of which leaders, and what incursions, intrusions, and - hopefully none - disruptions...
Recall that Facebook had a minority - but substantial - ownership by Russians at the time...
Time to throw back a number of boilermakers made of craft American beer and Russian vodka - and for the NYT to focus its attention and talent on those absolutely superb sponsored magazine-like pieces that aren't visible when paying for a subscription and blocking ads...
And to get the number of front-page mentions of Trump down from the mid-twenties to the mid-single-digits...
Spies consorting with spies has kept a certain balance to things...
Journalists consorting with spies has just caused one mess after another...
Almost one-third of the people on this planet look to Facebook for social and news information at some point...
And not a single Pulitzer to the company's name...
3
I’m beginning to think we could garner more resistance, before we had social media. Might it serve as a pressure relief valve that simply dulls our willingness to take over the streets and declare the end of this homegrown tyranny?
3
Ricardo222, I think you are right. We are able to vent 24/7 on line and expend our anger and outrage daily. I suppose we will have to hit the streets and shout soon.
1
Tax returns and the (real) books of the trump organisation. I would bet a large sum of money that forensics accountants will rapidly prove that the so-called president of the US has been laundering money for Putin and his cronies for a long time, and for other Russians before that. He is a Russian operative, and he is behaving like one.
54
Right on the money, Ralph... Pardon the pun.
2
Who will prevent Trump from fleeing to Russia when the Mueller investigation finally zeroes in on him? Who does Russia have placed in the administration to facilitate his flight to Moscow? Who do we have to coordinate the capture of this infamous traitor before it is too late?
5
President Putin will eat America's lunch, and Trump does not have the command of all the details to figure that out until it is too late. Russia indeed hates America, as their media outlets have said until they were quieted for the President's visit. And they will hack apart our computers if given a chance. Americas future is not made better by good Russian diplomatic relations, but by all the nuclear missles we have aimed at them.
4
A few millenniums ago the leaders used to sacrifice the young virgins at the altars. Why? For some reason they believed such actions made them safer.
There is no significant difference between those ancient foolishness and the NATO.
Allegedly, the NATO protects us from the enemies.
Who is the enemy?
Russia?
How could a country of less than 140 million people attack the Western Europe and America that are economically, militarily, population-wise and technologically stronger?
I know that Russia might act stupidly. Almost three decades ago the Kremlin didn’t stop allied Belgrade from acting in the same foolish way and accusing Bosnia from preparing to attack Serbia although Belgrade controlled the banks and the money, the federal army, the arm depots and had with far more soldiers.
However, Belgrade wasn’t able to control and subdue own paranoia, thus it attacked Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo and somehow lost all those wars, frankly thanks to the NATO.
However, the NATO shouldn’t embrace now the failed Milosevic logic.
The NATO must be able to create the new friends and attract Moscow into the alliance.
The competition is economic in nature, not the military one.
China is the most dangerous adversary as the most populous nation in the world.
The strategic maneuvering should be about luring Russia with all her territory and strategic resources into our camp.
We cannot let NATO be deterrent to such strategic fpartnership.
That’s why Trump-Putin summit is so important.
3
The President of the United States of America supported by family and cronies is causing chaos in this world. Korea, Europe, Mexico, Canada, Iran, Trade, Personal Relations internationally and relations domestically, etc. His latest advice to Mrs May of the United Kingdom was to sue the European Union as opposed to negotiate. I feel sure he could have at least provided pro bono lawyers. I thought Mrs May was going to crack up on television when she advised the interviewer. The meeting between Putin of Russia and Trump of the United States is a charade and a disgrace. 12 agents of the Russian military are under indictment - perhaps Mr Trump could make a huge international coup by having the Russian agents arrested and escorted back to the United States on Air Forcce One.
6
America is leaning over as far as it can without falling into the abyss with an idiot holding onto its belt.
11
Trump seems totally intimated by Putin. Yet America’s traditional friends and allies are just weaklings by Trump’s standards, ready to be pushed around. No wonder international respect for America and Americans is at an all time low.
8
at the very least, as was amply shown this week, they share an utter disdain for common civility: Trump, while walking with a nonagenarian lady, does not think to pace himself with her ; and his soulmate Putin, duly protected from the rain by some minion, does not think to send the umbrella to the Croatian president. Boorishness reigns ...
29
Dear Sirs.
I think you folks are naive,or pretend to be naive
Trump repeatedly espouses both sides of every issue. His so-called administration takes one side of the issue, and he takes the other. As he endorses both sides of every issue, he can always profess to hev been correct.
All of your tired analysis fall to the Kerb.
You folks appear to be anchored to a tired analysis. Trump puts forth all manner of silly contradictory assertions, and y'all spend lots of pixels contra-posing those assertions against his prior statements. Toward what end do you engage in this exercise?
yours very truly,
Joe
The Kremlin has been feeding money to Republicans for years, especially during the 2016 election campaign.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/07/18/how-the-gop-became-th...
51
Thank citizens united and the NRA
2
So I took a look at how many American jobs German car makers have created in the US and it's at least 110,000. Why doesn't Trump honor their contributions and seek to make those jobs more secure.
6
Tell Trump to bring his shine box, cause he will make your shoes look like mirrors...
3
The longer we "pussy foot" -- an expression my parents would use half a century ago -- around the issue of President Trump's mental stability, the more existential our nation's challenge will become.
34
There's a good deal of foreign policy experience and brainpower in the Legislature. How has that body been fulfilling its duty to provide checks and balances here? As one of its constituent stakeholders, I'd like to know.
5
Why is this “summit” being held in secret? Why are House and Senate Republicans allowing this meeting to proceed in secret? Don’t we, Americans and Russians alike, have the right to know what is being discussed?
80
I am asking these same questions. I cannot understand why members of Congress are sitting on their hands while this occurs, not even registering complaint; that our press is not reacting with 4 inch headlines. I vaguely recall that it is mandated that complete records be kept of every call, every meeting, etc. in which the president and his staff are involved. Yet, there was no hew and cry from members of Congress when no record was permitted of Putin/Trump's last meeting in the US, yet the Russians produced a recording of the entire event. I can't help but think that our entire system has been corrupted or bought off.
Isn't the question whether Trump gets everything he has long wanted?
A booming US economy and record low unemployment advances Putin’s agenda? Exactly how does that work?
3
The economy has been on a upward trajectory since President Obama stopped the economic collapse and righted the economy, this is not anything Donald Trump has done, in fact he has done things that will most likely damage the economy, trigger inflation, gas and oil prices are already on the rise.
Trump has screwed up our EPA protections that have been in place for more than a generation, lowered taxes on the people that need it least, blown a hole in the deficit, and has tried to destroy peoples health care, and is hard at work to destroy the Social Security Safety net for the citizens in this country, now he is bending over backwards to Kiss Putin where the Sun Don't Shine!
45
"Mr. Trump referred to the Russia investigation as a 'rigged witch hunt' that 'really hurts our relationship with Russia.'”
No! What "really hurts our relationship with Russia" is Russian--i.e., Putin-- interference in our elections. Trump, unfortunately, sees all this as about him, his status, his legitimacy as president; however, it has everything to do with defending and upholding the Constitution, which he swore an oath to do.
Th man just doesn't get it. His narcissim is in control,unfortunately, and that endangers all of us.
9
How, in the name of all that is holy, is this meeting proceeding:
1) with no agenda;
2) with no strategy; and most important
3) with no written record of what transpires?
Two of the least trustworthy men on the planet meeting in secret. Can these times get any more bizarre?
176
“Just by Meeting With Trump, Putin Comes Out Ahead”
It’s truly revolutionary concept that the meetings and conversations are deadly and dangerous because that’s how we lose and how the opponents come out ahead…
It seems that the NYT journalists are doing their best to protect President Trump.
Trump’s claim that the free press is the enemy of the people was completely senseless until you read the aforementioned headline implying that the peace and talks are deadly.
I had heard it before.
It was the notorious statement of Slobodan Milosevic, the president of Serbia, who claimed tthree decades ago hat his country was winning the wars and losing the peace. No wonder that Balkan exploded very shortly. His generals construed it literally and started the wars to be victorious again.
There is no significant difference between that Milosevic credo and the aforementioned headline…
3
At what point does the media begin to say what is increasingly obvious. President Trump is a Russian agent or a de facto Russian agent.
I guess the media is too gob-smacked to state the obvious: the President is beholden to Russian oligarchs and acts as their agent. There is no other explanation. When will the media state the obvious ?
13
Let's condense Trump down to a few sentences; Trump attacked countless Americans and divided the nation by campaigning on hatred of others and anger, both primitive instinctive keys to people. He then tried to kill many by sabotaging vital health care that saves lives. He conducts rapid fire daily propaganda to consume everyone's attention and keep everyone off balance with controversy after controversy and fast talking. The price of crude oil, the foundation of our economy, has gone from 27 dollars during his campaign to now, 70 dollars, thus harming the economy. He won his tax cuts for the rich which he is now trying offset with tariff's or what are really consumer taxes for the next ten years. He started hostile diplomacy and sabotaged our economy with trade wars, even against our long term allies that always supported us. He has done more harm to America than any Army of Russian Spies ever did or could have done. But Trump loves our traditional adversary that has America targeted with cold warfare and nuclear weapons. Every indication is that he loves Russia. The proof positive is that he is meeting with Putin.
5
Russia, please keep trump. We don’t want him back.
24
Should the attacks on the U.S. (cyber) and U.K. (nerve poison) be viewed as acts of war? Is Russia now engaged in a guerilla war against members of NATO? I read the indictment against the Russian intelligence agents, and the ability of the U.S. to find out the details of an extremely complicated program of cyberwarfare is mighty impressive. But it sounds like we might be past the point where investigation and indictment are enough. For starters, a "friendly" meeting between leaders of the attacking and attacked countries is out of the question...no? And we should be full-on shoulder to shoulder with our allies who are also under attack right now, not undercutting them in concert with their ambitious gadflies. In other words, please stop gushing about meetings with people who oversee agencies like the GRU or who run 21st Century concentration camps, while sending mixed messages at best about the leaders of our dearest friends. Let's get with it, mister president, now. Thanks in advance.
2
In his meeting with Mr. Putin, Mr. Trump insisting on having "privacy". So, it will be a one-on-one meeting between the two men with no advisers, reporters, or TV cameras; only translators. Apparently the "stable genius" not only is extremely naive but has little understand how the "big game" is played.
For some reasons Mr. Trump is mistaking Mr. Putin with his priest, personal lawyer, or accountant. His lack of experience, wisdom, and judgment shows when he thinks absence of other people and visible cameras means his meeting will not be recorded. One can be sure that the meeting room is equipped with plenty of hidden cameras and microphones. And, whatever Mr. Trump says that is so sensitive to be regarded as "private" will be recorded and added to the pile of "Kampromats" that Mr. Putin is keeping on him.
The only way to exclude this possibility is for Mr. Trump to offer Mr. Putin such a sweet deal that throwing that away would be pure stupidity on his side. But then that probably means that Mr. Trump will be effectively giving the whole store away.
We know that Mr. Pompeo, Mr. Trump's Secretary of State, is not only shrewd but he is also ambitious. So, once more the question is why he is not present in such a critical meeting? What reasons are there for him to try to put as much distance between himself and this meeting?
6
Talk about a stretch - Vladimir Frolov, an independent foreign policy analyst in Moscow? This is who the authors use as an authoritative voice. It happens that I am also an independent foreign policy analyst: I disagree
I'm mortified by most of the comments, and particularly by the tone of those anointed by the Times. Russia is a major power. While we sit fat and happy, bordered by Canada, Mexico and the oceans, Russia is far more vulnerably situated. If not for their incredible sacrifices in WW-II - they lost well over twenty MILLION citizens - we'd all be likely speaking Deutsch. Regrettably, America and Russia have punched and counter-punched for decades, and our relations have wound up in the dumpster. There's plenty of blame to go around. It's time for rapprochement, and that can't happen unless our leaders sit down and talk. We MUST calm down and focus on our shared humanity. Or get ready for World War III.
8
What is really crazy is that Trump comes out ahead too.
3
I suspect that both men were surprised (rattled) by the high level of detail contained in Friday's indictments. Putin will probably use that to remind Trump that the "deep state" is indeed out to undermine him. Both will be asking themselves what else Robert Mueller knows.
7
There once was a time, whenever a summit was held between an American President and his Russian counterpart, that we could ill afford to trust the pronouncements emanating from our clear adversary on the other side. Sadly and tragically, Americans at present find themselves in the unprecedented situation that we cannot trust anything emanating from both of the participants in these talks. They are indistinguishable.
5
Everyone in the mainstream media is wondering what Trump and Putin are going to discuss. Wake up my friends. The U.S. just indicted 12 high-level Russian agents for attacking this country in the 2016 election, and according to the “deep state” it’s still going on. What the hell do you think Trump and Putie are going to talk about? The various mainstream echo chambers (for example, MSNBC, CNN) can’t even bring themselves to raise the possibility of a discussion topic far more nefarious than “good relations.” The mainstream media cannot even ask the truly relevant questions at this point: “Are Trump and Putin going to discuss how to further destabilize the U.S. and the EU? Is it possible they might discuss how to bring the U.S. all the way to its knees, and not just half-way?” Dan Coats said the “this country is literally under attack” while Trump is still denying that RU interfered in the election to any degree. It’s happening right in front of our own lying eyes!!
10
Some may consider my language harsh when I urge all Americans always to keep in mind the Trump "nuts" factor. I am not calling him crazy outright, but I do doubt his mental stability. I have heard or read others employ terms such as "sociopath," "unhinged," "egomaniac" and "disturbed." We place our nation in even greater danger if we fail to consider this alarming question.
3
How much is this photo opp costing us? No agenda, no plan, no one aloud to join in. Why do we have to spend a cent. Where is the GAO?
5
All the Republicans are assuming that he will confront Putin.
Trump is a proven compulsive liar, so we will never know.
End of story.
9
Trump is not meeting Putin for US benefit. Trump is laying foundation for future business deals post presidency. Trump is doing business development work for his RE business. Trump Tower Moscow in 2022??
I wonder what US assets President Trump will trade for Business Trump?
4
This is an absurd article. The U.S. and Russia are two of the most significant powers in the world. They share interests in many areas including Syria, Iran, and the Middle East. It would be irresponsible for the U.S. president to refuse to meet with Putin.
4
Perhaps Trumps' behavior NOW is greasing the skids for himself and family in Russia AFTER his Presidency?
3
Because the FBI did not admit openly that they were investigating Trump's campaign ties to Russia like they admitted to investigating the non-issue of Hillary's email server, he thought he would get off scot-free. If he lost, no one would care to pursue him. If he won, he would be in total control of all of the investigative apparatus: remember the bizarre trip he took to the CIA, accompanied by his claque, and mentioned how he might fire all its employees?
Then he thought he had the whole thing swept under the rug by appointing Jeff Sessions as AG. When Sessions actually followed the Constitution and--in order not to go to jail for lying to Congress which he did outright--and recused himself from the Russia investigation, Trump was and still is outraged.
But then he thought--and he told the Russians this in the Oval Office and Lester Holt, too, in a televised interview--that if he just fired James Comey the whole thing would end right there.
The fact that these things did not happen is the reason why the whole GOP now seems intent on putting on show trials to try to persuade those not paying attention that it is the FBI that is corrupted and not Trump and his entourage.
But the investigators persist: and the Mueller/Rosenstein announcement of the indictments of 12 high level Russian military spymasters has got to send some chills down Putin's spine.
The fear is what he will advise Trump to do--liquidate someone?
5
The question that should be on everyone's mind is why is the Deep State, or rather the Permanent State as I like to refer to them, so concerned and preoccupied by Trump? What is such a threat to them? How is Putin's corrupt government and oligarchs such a threat to our corrupt political parties and our oligarchs and corporations? I'm sure oil and fossil fuels are at the heart of the matter, but just how, I wonder.
Sure Putin illegally annexed Crimea, but aren't we doing the same in Syria, using our CIA (see NYT/ Timber Sycamore) to overthrow Assad? It's hard to feign shock and moral outrage when we are doing the exact same thing.
1
Let us know who the "Deep State" is so we can answer your questions.
10
Yes, the Deep State, which does sound a little Alex Jonesy, which is why I prefer to use the term Permanent State because it indicates the permanency of this thing, is the intelligence community like the NSA, CIA, FBI, and corporately owned media (NBC just hired the liar and ex-CIA chief John Brennen to be their expert analysis.) These are the people that gave us the Viet Nam War, see Gulf of Tonkin, and the Iraq War, see WMDs, and the Syrian fiasco leading to ISIS, see Timber Sycamore@NYT. Hope that helps explain what I was referring to.
After seeing who the Democrats have running in 2020, I don't think Trump is going to need Putin's help this time around.
7
Whatever happens in Helsinki, our current President will come home saying that our problems with Russia are over. It will be Singapore redux. It will be a huge victory for Vladimir Putin, just as it was for Kim Jong-un. Our current President may indeed make some kind of concession to Putin, just as he did to Kim, in return for absolutely nothing. The great deal maker? Bah! Humbug!
5
In the 50s, 60s, and 70s Donald would have been referred to as a Commie for his actions. What have the Republicans done.
18
Who knows what will come of this meeting. Putin probably feels that dealing with Trump “is like taking candy from a baby”. Imagine the total jubulation that Trump will feel if Putin tells him that he’s a “tough” guy.
5
We know he is a "tough guy" ! Sure, didn't Kim Il Jong tell him that. Next year, he will captain the American Ryder Cup and lead them to victory. Then the next day, he will finish the American / Mexican Wall.
1
Time to call it for what it is, President Trump is a traitor.
123
"Engaging in dialogue?" That's what you call dropping by Helsinki to get the newest marching orders from his boss? One-way conversations aren't dialogues.
6
France's World Cup team is a timely example to point out how maliciously wrong Donald Trump is. The team is an amalgam of religions, cultures and races - the way a national team of the 21st century should look like. Instead Trump denigrates cultural diversity, saying that Europe's culture is being diminished by an influx of diverse cultures. Again, Trump uses code words that he believes his base will understand and appreciate. For him 'culture' means white and Christian, thus insinuating that he is the defender of these specious 'values' in the U.S. It becomes clearer every day that this man will not stop at anything to pursue his agenda of hate, bigotry and greed.
44
Or on the other hand France's World Cup team is an example of the legacy of a rapacious imperialism and colonialism, a cynical exploitation of talent and resources from other countries, "religions, culture and races" while Croatia represented a plucky little nation that was dismembered but pulled itself together and come very very far on a fraction of the population of France. Take your pick.
2
Putin owns Trump. At most, the meeting is Putin's pro forma review of Trump's performance. Everything Putin wants, Trump is giving him. This is not making America great again. This is treason.
19
Putin is an expert Authoritarian Politician with special expertise in world affairs, psychology and other KGB skills. Without much effort he will control Trump during the Summit and play him like a puppet. He may also hold all the dirt on the Trump family which alone gives him an upper hand. The end result will be Trump telling us the Summit was a great success and he bonded with Putin. Meanwhile Putin will laugh all the way home to Moscow.
5
Of course Putin will come out ahead. Alas, Putin knows Donald Trump is not exactly a “rocket scientist”. Trump will do anything Putin requests, too. It’s almost hilarious that some expect Trump to call out Russia over the latest indictments. We can picture Donald and Vladimir having a good laugh, in private, over that.
Speaking of in private, we have to wonder how our legislators and government leaders can allow this “private” conversation between Trump and Putin. That seems to be crossing a line.
Frankly, we’re getting a little tired of Trump seeking a friend fest with Russia, and that goes for the Helsinki experience, too.
8
It never ceases to amaze me that liberals supposedly concerned about democracy are not up in arms that the Democratic primary was rigged (I care much less that we learned this from Russians). Twelve Russian trolls are not going to take down the USA. But what will destroy democracy are corrupt primary contests where votes don’t count and cronyism does. Had Hilary Clinton actually been elected president, her presidency would have been entirely illegitimate given Wasserman-Shultz, Podesta & Co. had their thumbs on the scale. This is the true threat to our republic.
6
The Russians have already taken down our democracy. Putin’s puppet is in the WH and they have accomplished their objectives and more:
- a pass on Crimea and Ukraine
- NATO under attack by the US
- US out of Syria
- EU collapsing
- Oil prices up and sanctions relief (coming soon)
9
We've send this movie before.
Trump makes big deal about meeting with another enemy and after being suckered big time comes away saying the world is now safe thanks to him, then 24 hours later everything is back where it was before the useless meeting
9
Not one person has yet pointed out that Trumb is married to an Eastern European woman. Anybody ever read the questions on a US citizenship application? I suggest that Trumb's business past, speech, and marriage would disqualify him.
4
One thing that can be said for sure: Trump's meeting with Putin has certainly put the deep-swamp in quite the tizzy, even Rosenstein elbowed his way forward to attack Trump's efforts to bring some balance back to the world after Bush-Cheney's firestorm and warmongering post 9/11 which far out-shined Putin's Crimea grab--i.e., probably why he thought he could do it.
Such is life in the deep-swamp. Have to see what their next move will be, more leaks to our Sovietized mass-media from "unnamed" sources about what was said in the meeting?
4
Trump, a travelling salesman, is busily selling out America.
8
I know that this sound very paranoid but I am thinking Trump is not the only Republican who has gotten some serious support, help and possibly money from the Russians, via Putin in particular. Why else would so many Republicans in our government be so willing to put their reputations and motives in question to support Donald J. Trump. And BTW, how long has this been going on?!?!?! Our election machines are vulnerable to a guy sitting in the parking lot or some other "remote location" and often their software and hardware are of questionable origins. There was a Hacker's convention last year (25,000 attendees) called DEFCON 25 "Voting Machine Hacking Village" and their findings were more than just a bit upsetting. The list of attending organizations was a list of who's who with names most people would recognize, including U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Ever heard of Microsoft, IBM or McAfee? What is going on????
49
This is a poorly thought out assertion. Did Iran's leaders come out ahead by meeting with the US Obama administration? Or did the Castro regime come out ahead hosting Obama in Cuba? The Times really isn't advancing a US foreign policy position--it is advancing its own preferences and biases vis-a-vis Israel especially, and to a lesser extent the agitation wing of the DNC, which would accuse Trump of advancing the interests of Eskimos if he met with them. BTW, speaking of Israel, is the US contributing to West Bank, Syrian and Palestinian genocide, social dislocation, poverty and civil infrastructure destruction, by entertaining Israeli preferences, hosting Netanyahu in front of the US Congress, loading White House with Israel-First ideologues and selling (and giving away) billions in weapons to them? Russia is a natural ally of the US, but is not a friend to Israel. Therein is the conflict of interest. Unfortunately, other countries and other special interests have designs on Russia's sovereignty and resources which means Putin is in the way. Such interests infiltrate US policy, and as Trump indicated, media is no friend of the American public. This article proves up the assertion.
5
What does it take for Trump voters to see that Russian will massively help him in the next election? Soros should throw some money into recruiting die-hard Trump supporters , one per town, and send them to Russia for a 3 day tour, where they can first hand experience how great it would be if Trump had the same power as Putin. Seriously, Soros is wasting his time and money by failing to solve the domestic problem, his inaction is as bad as full consent. What is really needed is that Billionaires like Soros follow Bloomberg's example and exeed it, by massively collaborating with each other to remove Trump. It has only begun to be very uncomfortable to have Trump. And honestly, what doe sTrump know? ! He does not even know that the UK way of accounting, from the smallest shop up to the government, is different than anyone elses on the globe. People should boycott the Trump brand all over the world. And his relatives in Germany should simply change their last name, all of them, as a sign of dissent. All gestures of dissent matter.
4
It's not only disturbing but downright scary for America, Democracy and the rest of the world to be absolutely held hostage for whatever Putin's got hanging over the con man's head. Find the tape, find the mattress, find the bank account, find whatever. Let's just get this nightmare ended.
18
Oh relax. It was hardly an act of war. You want real election meddling? Try our own home-grown corrupt election financing laws that allow billionaires to buy politicians.
8
At least they’re American billionaires...
two wrongs don't make one right.
5
How LAUGHABLE to call the Europeans our allies. They are DEPENDENTS. Since WWI it's been a century of a one way flow of LOTS of lives and money from the US to Europe to bail them out.
Last week Trump sensibly asked the Europeans to meet their very meager NATO spending targets. The result was blizzard of news coverage trying to make Trump/the US the bad guy. Did not see one article asking Merkel, Marcon, or the leaders of the other NATO DEADBEATS why they don't pay their fair share.
8
As a citizen of one of your so-called European deadbeat allies I find your comment appalling in its ignorance. My country has stood by the US in its more or less dubious conflicts for the last two decades and we have taken the most casualties measured per capita of the coalition nations in Afghanistan. My husband is a trauma surgeon and has been serving in Iraq and Afghanistan on several tours and is about to be deployed again. The US has requested specialists from the coalition partners on several occasions and my country has never refused the call.
We remain grateful for the Marshall Aid after WW2, but for the sake of mutual economic resurrection after a horrible war, it was the only rational way to obtain economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic.
Concerning the US defense spending it must be noted that most European in their defense budgets don’t include pensions, health care for military personnel and their families, veteran rehab and benefit and I could go on.
30
Thank you for your comment. All the joint actions taken across the globe by our NATO allies are deeply appreciated by most US Citzens. It is only the minority that have no understanding of foreign policy and no humanity in their hearts that parrot these unfounded opinions. Kind of like the president* they supposedly elected.
11
Thank you BSondergaard for your informed comment. So many people do not realize the sacrifices other NATO countries have made on behalf of our actions (wars) in other countries. Most of us are grateful and humbled by the loss of lives on behalf of our country.
6
Look, as a liberal, I'd be happy for the President to sit down with Putin if:
a) Our President wasn't vastly intellectually inferior and indebted to Russian money launderers
and
b) Doing so didn't legitimize Russia's bad faith actions around the world
and
c) Our society stood anything to gain from the meeting; there was any possible way that Americans might benefit from cozying up to autocratic militaristic regimes.
... so, y'know, I'm not that happy about the meeting.
52
Putin has a LOT of explaining to do when he meets with his Patsy! Like how to CON-vince the American people that taking the side of the Kremlin against American intelligence agencies is Patriotic!
7
Been watching "The Americans" on Amazon, a fictional series about KGB illegals living in the DC area in the 80's. The writers dreamed up some pretty fantastic episodes, like one where the agents dig up a corpse to extract a pathogen sample.
Haven't finished the series yet, but I assume there's no episode in which the US president is "turned". That would be too unbelievable for fiction.
22
Trump has already achieved two of Putin's major goals before even meeting him: (1) Disrupt and destabilize NATO, and (2) further disrupt European unity by pushing Britain toward a "strong" Brexit either by threatening PM Theresa May will a loss of a U.S. trade deal or encouraging her rival and potential challenger, Boris Johnson, a strong advocate for Brexit. Now for goal (3): eliminate or lift sanctions. That may be a harder step to take, even with his compliant and complicit Republican-controlled Congress, given the recent indictments of 12 Russians for hacking into the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign officials. You can also be sure that Putin will deny the Russian hacking and Trump will, as before, look into his icy-cold blue eyes and believe him. Whether Trump will also try to legitimize Russia's seizure of Crimea--another Putin goal (#4)--remains to be seen, but don't be surprised if those very words tumble out of Trump's mouth. And finally, what the two may discuss or plot in secret is even more concerning.
7
I have just returned from a local town hall meeting during which local mayoral and council candidates made their cases to be elected to govern my city. Their replies to questions from the audience were models of civility and deep knowledge of the issues. If it were magically possible to replace the U.S. president with any one of these people at Helsinki I would sleep better at night.
55
45 is a traitor. To Americans. To Europeans. To global peace.
Time for Americans stand up to this traitor - at the ballot box in November, in the state and Federal courts as soon as possible.
Please hurry SP Mueller. You are doing a magnificent job! But we worry time is running out.
218
The only reason for these leaders to meet with no other parties present is because they have something (or many things) to hide.
150
Not "many" things. Just one Big Thing: Treason. Not that they're trying that hard to hide it.
4
The Western efforts to isolate Russia were always based on wishful thinking. Russia is too big for its interests to be safely ignored. This has been clear at least since August 2008, when Russia demolished Georgia's American-trained military in a five-day war provoked by Georgia. Yet, the West continues to behave as if what the Russians think doesn't matter. Trump recognizes the simple fact that Russia is a great power, a competitor to be reckoned with. This simple recognition of reality is viewed as proof that he is Putin's poodle.
The world is changing. The time of the West's unquestioned economic and military dominance is ending. History is back, with a vengeance.
6
I don't see it expressed much, but the "walks like a duck, quacks like a duck" could be applied to Mr. Trump in his interactions regarding Russia. Does anyone else think that Mr. Trump, for whatever reasons, is a Russian actor? Not talking only about collusion regarding the elections...talking about just about everything he says and does.
5
Once they agree Russia had nothing to do with the hacking, that should take a minute, they can get down to what this meeting is all about, reworking the terms of Russia's multi billion dollar loans to Trump Inc.
68
Never-Trump aligns with neocons to push a New Cold War and McCarthyism.
This is very short term thinking on both sides. It is an alliance of convenience forged in an ugly place, that can lead to no good.
7
I suspect from your past comments that you and I share some views on how we got here in the relationship between Russia and the US (and the West in general). I believe (along with Tom Friedman, btw) that NATO expansion opened the door to Russian nationalist resentment and helped Putin's rise.
But that's past history - we're stuck with Putin. He represents an almost seamless (apart from the few years of turmoil) transition of Russia from Soviet communist to crony capitalist leadership; little else is different. He shares his predecessors' ambition to undermine western solidarity and institutions, and he's so much better at it that they must envy him from the grave.
So be it. It's one thing for the US to work for reduced tensions with Russia, but it's quite another to have someone in the WH who endorses the economic and politcal disruption of Europe. The last thing we need in the White House is a collaborator, or to borrow another term from WW II France, a Vichy administration.
5
mancuroc -- Putin did not immediately or seamlessly move into that "ambition to undermine western solidarity and institutions." He did offer, and try, cooperation of real substance. He even tried to join NATO, which would have been an ultimate window into Russian military "threats."
He was driven to undermining his opponents, since he did not have the strength to do anything else as defense. It was the US ambition to exploit Cold War victory that drove this, and I think you acknowledge at least some of that.
This is an important distinction, because it means Putin would be open to a return to cooperation. He is not dead set on trying to gain the whole pot with a very weak hand; he's not that much a fool.
Does Trump has the insight and effectiveness to lead that return to cooperation? No, of course not.
But we still need to identify the problem, and the part played in it by both Trump's own ineffectiveness and the malice of his opposition, willing to make things worse so long as Trump is further frustrated.
That malicious opposition to sensible policy is unnecessary, not least because Trump would just fail on his own even if his opposition supported a wiser policy. But then we'd be well-placed to move on to better policy, not mired in our own McCarthyism and resurgent neocons.
Putin is so completely Russian hard-school that is could never be a "nice guy." So what? We don't live in Russia, but we must live with Russia. Russians just see "better than Stalin."
You totally ignore trump's part of the equation. He's not merely trying to "live with" Russia. If he were, He is actively furthering Putin's goal of undermining collective Western values, institutions and unity. No American or other western leader ever did that before, whether at the height of the cold war or during glasnost. And no American leader has so embraced those
values at home; of course it helps that Putin transformed himself from Communist to vrony capitalist.
I'll grant you that there are examples of limited cooperation with NATO but that went by the board with his interference with Ukraine. Good relations with Russia are worth pursuing, but not at the cost of sharing Putin's goal of splintering the West.
A bunch of individual nations all pursuing their own versions of "America First" is the recipe that led to WW I.
I guess your analysis shows that when it comes to US-Russia relations, Putin holds all of the Trump cards.
9
It's quite understandable that the head of the world's most lucrative crime syndicate would desire a face-to-face sit down with his captains on occasion. Some things are more appropriately discussed in private.
13
"Mr. Putin is a firm believer that real leaders do not dither. They make deals, unencumbered by caviling aides and persnickety diplomats, as he and Mr. Trump will be when they meet in Helsinki (with only translators)""
That's the danger, "manly" qualities or otherwise.
I think it's far more likely than not the president will get rolled out of gratitude for any Putin flattery that gets him to quickly agree to recognize Crimea, or cancel NATO military exercises near the Baltic states.
Also, Putin had a chance to watch Trump in action in Singapore, where he made a major concession to Kim Jong-Un before any signed but vague "agreement".
Don't both men realize this "secret" meeting with no Americans present makes it very suspicious, in light of all the growing conviction here that Putin controls Trump or gives him orders?
So I want to see which country goes first to disclose what was discussed. Remember how embarrassing it was when the Russian diplomatic corps released photos of Trump laughing it up with Kislyak and friends in the Oval over the Comey firing?
Frankly, I don't share Trump's bravado, that "he's been preparing for moments like these all his life" as he claimed in Singapore.
Somehow, I don't think Putin shares it either.
10
Hummm, didn’t Nikita Khrushchev once promise that Russia would eventually take the U.S. without firing a shot?
And Donny’s and Vlad’s affair is the stuff of John le Carr’e pen - and now I read in The Times where some of those Russians responsible for the DNC hacking may have been involved in the poisoning of the Russian spy and his daughter in England...!!!!
Folks, there has just gotta be a government-within-a-government behind the scenes here - that, in a worst case scenario, would hopefully save this country in case this debacle comes tumbling down.?.?.?
Please, tell me there is...!
8
Liberals ALWAYS criticize conservatives for not engaging in dialogue with our enemies. Then when Trump does it, they criticize him anyway.
9
Define "engaging in dialogue with our enemies." We have a POTUS who seems more concerned about Putin feelings than the findings of an extensive investigation of Russian interference in our elections. Study Trump's behavior and remarks over the past year about our allies, our free press and our enemies. There's a clear pattern that suggests he's our own worst enemy. But, hey what do pesky Liberals ALWAYS know?
7
Trump is negotiating his asylum in Russia. He's the perfect oligarch. Plus he will betray every single secret a president knows to Putin. His supporters are either traitors or fools, or both.
68
Trump recently told a crowd in Montana that he has been preparing for the meeting with Putin his whole life, and trivialized the warnings that Putin was a KGB master.
First off, a CV of hotel development and reality TV have nothing to do with meeting a ruthless leader.
Secondly, if Trump were at all prepared, he wouldn't be flippant when referencing Putin's tenure at the KGB.
13
The only strategy Trump has is likely to damage the EU. He can't deal with strong competition, he fears the EU. It will likely backfire in a big way. Where again are the articles on a) expert estimates of future Russian interference, and b) the newest climate change resarch forecasting a mini ice age? Both were published within the last 4 days. The Russians will certainly attempt to massively interfer again.
2
My one wish is that when these two monsters meet, the rest of the world realizes that Trump's actions and friendship with his Russian counterpart (and here I mean, dictator to dictator) is NOT what most Americans want or endorse. We Americans side with our traditional allies, and not with this rogue President. He stole the election using his Russian cronies to undermine a democratic electoral process, and now he is, daily, demonstrating that his roots are decidedly pro-Russia, at the expense of everything and everyone else. Plainly, he is no American. Unfathomable as it seems, he is a hybrid pro-Russian regime Nazi. Welcome to the 21st Century, where inside of one human being can reside the very worst of everything bad that we have sought to eradicate from our planet: bigotry, fascism, totalitarianism, hate and racism... and here is Trump, the embodiment of all these things. <sigh>
10
Trump thinks if he re-brands a secret back channel as a "summit", we'll believe it.
9
With each passing day the US sounds and acts increasingly as a Russian satellite state.
Eighty years ago, Congress enacted the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”), requiring “foreign agents” to register with the Attorney General. Should not Trump be forced to register as a foreign agent?
85
I feel about this meeting like it is straight out of a John le Carre novel, where the mole (Trump) is meeting with his handler (Putin). Maybe they'll keep their discussion innocuous because there will be interpreters there (even though Putin speaks English), but so much of Trump's "up is down, black is white" behavior absolutely convinces me that Putin has Trump compromised. It's probably through Trump's finances but maybe those golden shower photos do exist. Please, Mueller, keep digging.
22
Donald has a serious handicap. Mentioning that he will brag about his achievements concerning puttin', birdies and hole in ones....
1
After alienating other G7 members, disparaging NATO, insulting Prime Minister May personally, what do you bet that Trump will magically learn to be cordial when he meets Putin?
22
I disagree with the premise of this article.
Trump has proven himself to be a narcissistic, idiotic buffoon on the world stage.
He has the gravitas of a feather.
I'm not certain Comrade Putin comes out ahead sitting down with most internationally reviled President in American history.
5
This is what passes for analysis? A high school debating class could come up with better pros and cons. This was also said about the North Korean leader. It was lazy analysis then, and it's lazy now. Never mind that most of the speculation relating to Trump turns out to be inconsequential once events unfold. Then it's a rush onto the next analysis and speculation, leaving a trail of wasted print.
7
I hope he wears the cap with his real mission slogan tomorrow: „Make Russia great again“
12
So Trump is considering the EU a foe! I really am speechless. I have always considered the US a friend, but should I now consider it a foe, given what their first citizen has expressed? After all, it takes a high percentage of idiots to elect an idiot for president, but again, this simply does not fit with my impression and knowledge of the US.
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Briefly, I am apologizing to about 75% of you in Europe on behalf of my fellow 75% of 320 million Americans. Pleases forgive us for now, we will get this right.
3
Michael,
Unfortunately, we do have our fair share of idiots in the U.S. But please don't give up on us. The non-idiots among us may yet take back the asylum.
1
Point taken, but please note that fewer than 30% of eligible voters voted for this man; over 70% did not. Granted, 40% of eligible voters didn't bother going to vote...so here we are, stuck with this madman for the foreseeable future. Please know that most of us do not agree with him, and we certainly do not look at the EU as a foe. We're trying to live through this chaos...
1
Trump is a serial cheater. He probably cheated his way through school. He cheats at golf. He cheats his debtors. He cheated on his wives. Now he is cheating on his own country by cozying up to ruthless leaders.
I have seen enough. This poor excuse for a man is worthless. He is a traitor, and I will not be satisfied until there is impeachment and incarceration.
Then I will know this country can survive.
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Incarceration and forfeiture of assets would be so satisfying for all of us who have known who he was through the decades and fought like hell to defeat his candidacy. (Guess we weren't enough to overcome the help from his Russkie friends, though)
9
The attack on our election by the Kremlin was an act of war.
Trump is in Finland to offer aid and comfort to an enemy, the very definition of Treason.
Right before our eyes.
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Exactly, right before everybody's eyes, and yet no-one moves to stop him. The US glories in its constitution and yet it's so poor that it can't stop the US President from conspiring with the enemy, the Russians, where there is evidence in the form of an indictment laying it all out that that same enemy interfered in the US elections and elected your traitorous president. And Trump is calling its allies foes and conspiring behind closed doors with Putin. The US is sinking before the world's eyes and, again, nobody stops it.
My feeling is that the meeting behind closed doors with Putin will be more a confab on how to continue to undermine the US's allies.
It's like because Traitor Trump is doing all this before everyone it's less real. It's hard to believe that we can all see it every single day and yet half of America sees something else. It's inexplicable.
Geez, America, what's wrong with you? Don't think you can't fall, bigger empires in history have done so and if you don't think you're on your way your head is quite firmly buried in the sand. Why don't we just start calling you the United States of Russia now.
2
He isn't accomplishing nothing, he's just accomplishing nothing good. He looks like he's very good at bringing America, and all his allies, down. Thanks, America, appreciate it heaps. Either he is being blackmailed or he thinks he is going to come out on top of the heap when the west falls. Funny that, Putin had no use for him before he was president and I'm sure he will have even less use for him when he is gone.
1
"The attack on our election by the Kremlin was an act of war."
Really? Well, in that case the US is at war with about the whole world.
1
I hope we are not reaping the rewards of a decades long deterioration in our education system where civics and history and science have received too little depth or relevant coverage to so many. These subjects seem to have all but vanished from the belief systems of so many. At least our free press is still strong and tries to educate the public but fake news has a strong grip on many minds. How do we make truth and justice more predominant again?
11
It wouldn't matter what Trump did regarding the meeting with Putin.
He would still be criticized for meeting or not meeting Putin by radical liberal democrats and the fake news media.
5
Radical liberal democrats and the fake news media? What about extremist right-wing xenophobists and the Fox-Pravda News Service? You live in an alternate universe Don and it is not a real or healthy one.
21
Hmm, that sounds exactly like the way the Republicans and the Conservative media treated President Obama.
9
But if he tells Putin "after the election i will have more flexibility" then you will consider him a hero????? all together now: YES!!!!!!
4
Donald Trump is like an unwary, thirsty wildebeest approaching a waterhole. Vladimir Putin is like a crocodile, patient, calculating, waiting for the beast to stray too close to slake its thirst and then...
We are not dealing with a "normal" American president. Another article on the subject of presidents pitted against Russia's presidents details a quotation from John F. Kennedy after his disastrous and embarrassing meeting with Nikita Khrushchev in Vienna, a mere 4 1/2 months after his Inaugural Address in which he said, in part, "...we will not fear to negotiate with any foe..." Later, the new president admitted to his Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, "I was savaged."
The times are no less perilous today, 57 years later. The American president, fresh of a series of negatively-reviewed "summits" with both an enemy (Kim Jong-un in Singapore) and friends whom he gratuitously trashed in Canada, Brussels and London, thinks that he is riding the headwinds of approval...but from whom, save his "base?"
The indictments of 12 Russian spies just two days ago have not given him pause. Instead, he lashed out at President Obama, forgetting that Mr. Obama wanted to break the news to the American people but Mitch McConnell nixed the idea as "partisan politics." It is widely seen that Trump is off to Helsinki not to bury President Putin about the corruption of our elections in 2016, but to praise him, to paraphrase Marc Antony in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.
Putin has Trump measured.
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Isn't it just too strange that Trump decried the indictments as bad for our countries' relationship?
When has he ever cared about offending anyone besides Putin?
And what relationship anyway? Maybe those two individuals have one of their own, but the nations have, at best, a nominal one.
4
Was it over when the Russians bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!
Our CIA was behind the 2014 coup in the Ukraine that overthrew a democratically elected government and installed an Oligarch, and where Neo-Nazis now roam freely. Does Russia have a right to defend their borders?
It is still the same people who pushed us to invade Iraq who are now getting us ready for a confrontation with Russia. War is a racket - Major General Smedley Butler. There is a long list of our meddling and overthrowing democratically elected governments, so the US can be the dominate world power. Even if it was the Russians who released the actual memos in the DNC servers, they did us a favor by showing how corrupt the DNC and the Democratic Party leaders are, and how they rigged the primaries.
Nice that we can count on our allies like Saudi Arabia, They gratefully buy a lot of our weapons, to use in places such as their Yemen War, where millions are being starved and will soon die, because of a blockade, with our air support. Also our friend Israel who are holding babies, kids and starving people in a large cage called Gaza. Is this not maligned activity? Not covered here, will have to read about it outside the USA.
Oh I love the smell of McCarthyism in the morning.
5
There was no coup and, not surprisingly, you've provided no proof of CIA involvement. There was an uprising that began when Yanukovich overreacted to the Euromaidan and ended when first his allies, then he, lost their nerve.
The current government itself is, in fact, elected. Further, Russia's borders were never under threat (neither was its base in Crimea).
2
I think Trump wants a one on one with Putin is to discuss his next assignment to destroy Europe and weaken the US. If Trump succeeds Putin will forgive his Russian debts and all the dossier from Trump in Moscow with prostitutes.
14
What actually happens at this “summit”, or any other Trump event is entirely irrelevant to Trump, or his supporters. It simply provides the starting point for a Trump narrative that will have nothing to do with what actually happened. The only facts wil be that he went to Helsinki and met with Putin. From there, the story will be whatever Trump decides to make up. I haven’t the skill set to know whether his pathological lying is a mental illness or just a complete lack of moral compass, but when coupled with his complete lack of empathy or caring, I do know that the result is truly evil.
186
Good point; he'll just tell us what happened in the meeting.
1
I'll go with pathological lack of a moral compass and truly evil.
1
but how would you know if it was true? When Trump's mouth moves he lies.
"President Trump has already advanced the agenda of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia..."?
Really? Really?
Isn't that what Trump has been doing since taking office, and even before? Name one action Trump has taken that has NOT advanced Putin's aganda!
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Putin’s Payout: 10 Ways Trump has Supported Putin’s Foreign Policy Agenda
https://themoscowproject.org
Fascinating reading....
It’s been reported only interpreters will be in the room with 45 and Putin. 45 doesn’t believe in adhering to tradition (ask the Queen) but is it legal to have no record of a meeting of Heads of State? Isn’t there a Records Act that covers Presidential actions? I certainly won’t believe either man’s version of events. We can’t be sure this won’t be a meeting about the Trump organization or, God forbid, colluding on further election tampering.
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It's private because it's an employee performance review.
6