Trump is winging his way to Poland right now for the G20 meeting. He’s not worried, but his aides have installed Xanax licks at their workstations to cope with the anxiety. Via the NYT:
WASHINGTON — President Trump has been briefed repeatedly. His advisers have alerted him to the web of potential risks, complex issues and diplomatic snags. But even his top aides do not know precisely what Mr. Trump will decide to say or do when he meets President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia face-to-face this week on the sidelines of the Group of 20 economic summit gathering in Hamburg, Germany. And that is what most worries his advisers and officials across his administration as he embarks Wednesday on his second foreign trip, first to Warsaw and then to Hamburg.
It might look something like this when Trump finally catches sight of Putin:
Even Trump’s aides don’t expect him to address in a serious way the fact that Russia interfered in our election:
Mr. Trump’s team said he might bring up Russia’s documented meddling in the 2016 election, but he is unlikely to dwell on it: Doing so would emphasize doubts about the legitimacy of his election.
So there you have it, folks — the President of the United States is unlikely to confront the foreign autocrat who undermined our democracy in 2016 and will undoubtedly keep doing so due to the wildly successful outcome of the last round of meddling. Why? Because upholding his oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic” would tarnish Trump’s glorious Electoral College victory.
The biggest concern, people who have spoken recently with members of his team said, is that Mr. Trump, in trying to forge a rapport, appears to be unwittingly siding with Mr. Putin. Like Mr. Trump, Mr. Putin has expressed disdain for the news media, and he asserted in a recent interview that secretive elements within the United States government were working against the president’s agenda. Two people close to Mr. Trump said they expected the men to bond over their disdain for “fake news.”
Unlike the “team,” I’m not a bit worried about the optics. Beclowning is inevitable. Putin will run circles around Trump. So will Merkel, Macron, et al. It’s not hard; he’s an idiot. The question is, will Trump come home with a pocketful of magic beans? Probably!