EU/NATO/RUSSIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump said his easiest meeting on his foreign trip to Europe during the next week may be his sit down with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump spoke to reporters before leaving for the NATO summit in Brussels, the first stop on his trip. He then plans to travel to the United Kingdom where he will hold talks with Prime Minister Theresa May and meet with Queen Elizabeth II. Trump will have his first standalone summit with Putin in Helsinki, Finland, Monday [7-16-18]…Later, when asked if he sees Putin as a friend or a foe, Trump said he sees the Russian leader as a ‘competitor…’ Ahead of his anticipated one-on-one with Putin, Trump has been railing against US allies, arguing that the US has been ‘taken advantage’ of by NATO.”
-Veronica Stracqualursi, “Trump says Putin meeting ‘may be the easiest of them all’,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, July 10, 2018 8:27 am