Trump, Putin and a Contentious State of Affairs on the Continent
Reva Goujon
VP of Global Analysis, Stratfor
MIN READJul 11, 2018 | 09:00 GMT
After leaving a NATO summit, U.S. President Donald Trump (right) is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. In this photo, the two presidents make their way to take the "family photo" during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit in Danang, Vietnam, on Nov. 11, 2017.
(JORGE SILVA/AFP/Getty Images)
With another NATO summit underway, the news media will go wild again this week in search of another iconic image to add to U.S. President Donald Trump's scrapbook on trans-Atlantic relations. Will the president top the 2017 shot of his shoving aside the leader of a tiny Balkan country? Will there be public outcry when he avoids endorsing another generic joint statement? After a handful of summits like these, Trump's "shock and awe" tactics on his European partners are getting awfully predictable. And no leader will take more delight in the stressed trans-Atlantic relations than Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will be meeting with Trump on the heels of the NATO summit....
