After a brief delay reportedly caused by President Putin, Trump and his Russian counterpart have gathered for a brief press conference before the start of their 90-minute summit meeting, during which the two men will be left alone to discuss a range of issues.
- *PUTIN: THE TIME HAS COME FOR SUBSTANTIVE BILATERAL TALKS
- *PUTIN SAYS HE'S BEEN IN REGULAR CONTACT WITH TRUMP
- *TRUMP CONGRATULATES PUTIN ON HOSTING WORLD CUP
- *TRUMP: WILL DISCUSS TRADE, NUCLEAR ISSUES AND CHINA WITH PUTIN
- *TRUMP SAYS AGAIN THAT GETTING ALONG WITH RUSSIA `A GOOD THING
The two men shared a handshake, as Trump said "I really think the world wants to see us get along."
— Dan Linden (@DanLinden) July 16, 2018
But just like with Trump's summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who knows what they will say?
NBC News is in full panic mode - "This is remarkable. President Trump, President Putin are going to be alone in a room for 90 minutes with only their interpreters."
And The Intercept's Glenn Greenwald reminds his followers that:
"In 1987, when Reagan met with Soviet leadership, the Far Right took out ads attacking him as a "Useful Idiot" for Russian propaganda,and of betraying America by legitimizing Russian aggression and domestic repression."
And already the talking heads on CNBC have proclaimed that "it was a weak opening by Trump."
As we noted earlier, here are five key things to watch for as they start their press conference in approximately 90 minutes.
* * *
President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrived in Helsinki late Sunday night for his long-awaited summit meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the Financial Times. And though the two leaders have met before, Monday's summit will mark the first sit down meeting between the two leaders since Trump's inauguration. In an interview that aired yesterday, Trump cautioned that he has "low expectations" going into the summit, because no matter what he accomplishes, the media and Trump's political opponents will treat him like it wasn't enough.
Trump said Friday during his press conference with UK Prime Minister Theresa May that he expects to discuss Syria, Ukraine and terrorism with Putin. He said later that he would consider asking Putin about the possibility of extraditing the more than two dozen Russians who have now been indicted by the DOJ over allegations of interference in the 2016 election.
Following Friday's latest round of indictments against a dozen Russian military intelligence officials, Democratic lawmakers slammed Trump for refusing to cancel the meeting.
And while Trump berated his political opponents for taking advantage of the indictments and their timing to try and foil the long-anticipated meeting between the two world leaders, National Security Advisor John Bolton said on Sunday that the president had been briefed in advance about the indictments of the Russian intelligence agents. According to Reuters, Trump appeared upbeat during a breakfast meeting with Finland’s president before the meeting with Putin in the Finnish capital, even tweeting his thanks to his hosts for their hospitality.
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