When Donny Met Vlad

Meeting Prep:  Last time Trump went on an overseas trip he went on a twitter hiatus.  This trip, tweeting is front and center.  Trump warmed up for his meeting with Putin by tweeting that “Everyone here is talking about John Podesta refusing to give the DNC server to the FBI and the CIA. Disgraceful.”  What?  Leaders from twenty countries, meeting to discuss critical economic,  trade and climate treaties, navigating through streets filled with protesters, anarchists, water cannons and pepper spray, who wouldn’t know John Podesta from Mr. Potato Head were hardly talking about him or his server.  Podesta, who ran Hillary Clinton’s campaign and had nothing to do with the DNC server, was on a road trip heading to Utah when he saw Trump’s tweet.  He responded with his own series of tweets, suggesting that “our whack job POTUS” needs “to get a grip man” adding “Dude, get your head in the game.  You’re representing the US at the G20.”  Podesta, whose personal email account was hacked and leaked right before the election, then pushed Trump to do his job and bring up Russian election interference with Putin, the guy responsible for the hacking.

When Donny Met Vlad: At Trump’s request participation in the Putin hook-up was limited to four people plus interpreters. Trump left his national security advisor on the outside due to his concern that McMaster’s steely presence would impede his ability to skirt issues, bond with Putin and spin the meeting summary.  Instead he brought Secretary of State Tillerson and Putin brought Foreign Minister Lavrov. Contrary to normal practice, no formal communique was issued at the end of the two hour plus meeting leaving each side to provide their own overview.  Tillerson dutifully spun the official US version,  reporting that Trump opened the meeting by forcefully telling Putin that “the American people are concerned that he interfered in the election.”  Not Trump, just the American people.  Tillerson insisted that Trump pressed Putin but when Putin denied any involvement the two decided to agree to disagree and moved forward.  Lavrov provided an alternative version.  He said that Trump flat out accepted Putin’s assurances that Moscow did not interfere in the election, they laughed and then moved on.  Given how many times Trump has said that he doesn’t believe that claims of Russian election meddling are anything more than a misguided attack on the validity of his election victory, Lavrov’s version feels more accurate.  Having checked the box on that silly election interference problem, they moved on to other issues, discussing counter-terrorism, cyber-crime, Syria, and Ukraine.  Though even he appeared skeptical of how long it would last, Tillerson announced that, together with Jordan, the US and Russia have agreed on a ceasefire in southwest Syria, an agreement that had been reached before the meeting. Despite intelligence agencies concerns that Russian hackers are still attacking the US technology infrastructure, most notably the computer systems of US nuclear facilities, Putin and Trump agreed to collaborate on preventing future election interference and cyberwarfare which is a little like one of the three little pigs inviting the wolf to participate in house construction. Tillerson also announced that at Putin’s request, the US has appointed a special envoy to advance discussions about Ukraine and that they shelved any discussion of North Korea because of their differing concerns about Kim Jong Un’s aspirations. Trump walked away from the meeting happy to have solidified his friendship with Putin, Putin walked away happy to have used Trump to enhance his status a world leader. As far as we know, Trump didn’t make any promises about sanctions, at least for now.    

The Trumpcare Blitz:  With only two weeks to go before the August recess, Senate Majority Leader McConnell is planning a final blitz to get Trumpcare passed.  He is setting attack dog Senator Ted Cruz and silver fox VP Mike Pence loose to pressure and charm dissenting Senators.  Cruz, the most disliked guy in the Senate has been tasked with selling his amendment which allows states to permit the sale of stripped down insurance policies.  He is an unlikely pitchman but is very good at twisting facts.  Pence’s task is to woo outliers.  The whole team will question the validity of the Budget Office’s scoring report by pushing alternative analyses produced by conservative organizations. The full court, alternative facts blitz begins on Monday. The White House, McConnelll, Pence and Cruz will have their hands full, a few more Republican Senators have gone on record expressing reservations about the effect that Trumpcare will have on their constituents.