On the Putin/Trump summit

Listen 48:58
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, makes a statement as U.S. President Donald Trump, left, looks on at the beginning of a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland, Monday, July 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, makes a statement as U.S. President Donald Trump, left, looks on at the beginning of a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland, Monday, July 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Guests: David Rothkopf, Rudra Sil

President Trump met behind closed doors with Russian president Vladimir Putin on Monday and reiterated his call for a better relationship with Russia whom he called a competitor. They were both asked at a press conference about allegations of meddling in the 2018 election and Robert Mueller’s indictment of 12 Russians on Friday. President Trump said he wasn’t sure who to believe; his own intelligence agencies or Putin, saying there were two sides of the story. That has angered a lot of people, including Republicans. Former CIA director John Brennan called it treasonous. This happened after a frosty NATO meeting with US allies last week and a weekend of anti-Trump protests in England and Scotland. Today on the show, we’ll discuss U.S. – Russia relations in the Trump era, the president’s performance at the summit in Helsinki, election meddling and more. Our guests for the hour are DAVID ROTHKOPF, CEO of the Rothkopf Group and host of Deep State Radio, as well as RUDRA SIL, professor of political science at The University of Pennsylvania.

WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.

Want a digest of WHYY’s programs, events & stories? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Together we can reach 100% of WHYY’s fiscal year goal