Trump and Putin: a strained relationship
Their complicated relationship will be put to the test at a summit in Alaska on Friday, where the two leaders who claim to admire each other will seek to outmaneuver one another over how to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
While the two were close to a bromance during Trump's first term (2017-2021), their relationship has grown strained during his second term.
The US president has expressed anger with Putin for pressing on with his brutal three-year-old war in Ukraine, which Trump calls "ridiculous."
Trump describes the summit as "really a feel-out meeting" to evaluate Putin's readiness to negotiate an end to the war.
"I'm going to be telling him, 'You've got to end this war,'" Trump said.
The two leaders notably have radically different negotiating strategies: the Republican real estate magnate usually banks on making a deal, while the Russian president tends to take the long view, confident that time is on his side.
Referring to Trump's meeting with Putin, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that Trump needs "to see him face to face... to make an assessment by looking at him."
Trump praised Putin for accepting his invitation to come to the US state of Alaska, which was once a Russian colony.
"I thought it was very respectful that the president of Russia is coming to our country, as opposed to us going to his country or even a third place," Trump said Monday.
It will be only the second one-on-one meeting between the men since a 2018 Helsinki summit.
Trump calls Putin smart and insists he's always "had a very good relationship" with the Kremlin leader.
But when Russian missiles pounded Kyiv earlier this year, Trump accused him of "needlessly killing a lot of people," adding in a social media post: "He has gone absolutely CRAZY!"
For his part, Putin has praised the Republican billionaire's push to end the Ukraine war. "I have no doubt that he means it sincerely," Putin said last year when Trump was running for president.
Since returning to the White House in January, the American president has forged a rapprochement with Putin, who has been sidelined by the international community since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Trump and Putin, aged 79 and 72 respectively, spoke for 90 minutes by phone in February, both expressing hope for a reset of relations.
But after a series of fruitless talks and continued deadly Russian bombing of Ukrainian cities, Trump has appeared increasingly frustrated.
"I am very disappointed with President Putin," Trump told reporters last month. "I thought he was somebody that meant what he said. And he'll talk so beautifully and then he'll bomb people at night. We don't like that."
Trump and Putin have met six times, mostly on the sidelines of international events during Trump's first term.
In his recent book "War," Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward wrote that Trump spoke to Putin seven times between leaving the White House in 2021 and returning there earlier this year. The Kremlin denies this.
But the defining moment in their relationship remains the July 16, 2018 summit in the Finnish capital Helsinki. After a two-hour one-on-one meeting, Trump and Putin expressed a desire to mend relations between Washington and Moscow.
But Trump caused an uproar during a joint press conference by appearing to take at face value the Russian president's assurances that Moscow did not attempt to influence the 2016 US presidential election – even though US intelligence agencies had unanimously confirmed that it did.
"I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today," Trump said. "He just said it's not Russia. I will say this: I don't see any reason why it would be."
Given this history, Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen is worried about what could happen at the Trump-Putin summit.
"I am very concerned that President Putin will view this as a reward and another opportunity to further prolong the war instead of finally seeking peace," she said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malaysian Reserve
31 minutes ago
- Malaysian Reserve
800 National Guard personnel mobilized for DC mission: Pentagon
WASHINGTON – All 800 National Guard troops who were ordered to the US capital Washington to aid law enforcement personnel by President Donald Trump have now been mobilized, the Pentagon said Thursday. Trump ordered the deployment — which follows a similar move during protests in Los Angeles in June — as part of what he billed as a crackdown on crime in Washington, where violent offenses are in fact down. 'As of today, all 800 Army and Air National Guardsmen are mobilized… as part of Joint Task Force DC, and they are now here in our capital,' Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson told journalists. They 'will assist the DC Metropolitan Police Department and federal law enforcement partners with monument security, community safety patrols, protecting federal facilities and officers' and traffic control posts, Wilson said. The troops 'will remain until law and order has been restored in the District, as determined by the president,' she added. The US Army later said the National Guard's initial mission 'is to provide a visible presence in key public areas, serving as a visible crime deterrent.' 'They will not arrest, search, or direct law enforcement,' but they 'have the authority to temporarily detain individuals to prevent imminent harm,' the Army said in a statement. The troops will be equipped with protective gear, it added, saying that weapons would be available if needed but would remain in the armory. Trump announced the National Guard deployment — along with a federal takeover of the city's police department — on Monday, vowing 'to take our capital back.' In a further tightening of control, US Attorney General Pam Bondi signed an order late Thursday granting the head of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration the executive powers of Washington police chief, codifying the federal takeover of the capital's law enforcement. The overwhelmingly Democratic US capital faces allegations from Republican politicians that it is overrun by crime, plagued by homelessness and financially mismanaged. However, data from Washington police shows significant drops in violent crime between 2023 and 2024, although that was coming off the back of a post-pandemic surge. The deployment of troops in Washington comes after Trump dispatched the National Guard and Marines to quell unrest in Los Angeles, California, that was spurred by immigration enforcement raids. It was the first time since 1965 that a US president deployed the National Guard against the wishes of a state governor. Most National Guard forces answer to state governors and have to be 'federalized' to be brought under presidential control, but in Washington these troops already report only to the US president. –AFP
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Tariff threatens India's manufacturing ambitions
If the 50% rate holds, Bloomberg Economics estimates US-bound exports from India could fall by 60% and put nearly 1% of gross domestic product at risk. — Bloomberg NEW DELHI: India's largest shoemaker Farida Group has already staked out the land – a 150-acre plot in southern Tamil Nadu – for a sprawling new export plant. Then came a blow from Washington: President Donald Trump announced he was doubling tariffs on Indian exports to 50%. For Farida, which supplies brands like Cole Haan and Clarks and depends on the United States for about 60% of its business, the impact was immediate. New orders stopped. The 10 billion rupee project froze. 'With 25% tariffs, you can still work, you can give some discount, negotiate with the buyer and make some adjustments in your profits,' Rafeeque Ahmed, the company's chairman, said in an interview. 'At 50%, you don't have anything.' Farida is hardly alone. Trump's move would give India the highest tariff rate in Asia, threatening a manufacturing sector that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spent a decade trying to build to take on the likes of China. The 'Make in India' campaign was supposed to lift manufacturing to 25% of the economy. Last year, it stood at just 13% –lower than the 16% in 2015, according to World Bank data. The last few years did offer glimmers of the future Modi had envisioned. Apple Inc scaled up iPhone assembly in India, making the country the second-largest smartphone producer after China. Pharmaceuticals and green tech have also gained ground. The United States – whose policies and actions accelerated companies' adoption of a 'China Plus One' strategy to diversify supply chains – is now India's biggest export market and one of its top sources of foreign investment. That progress is suddenly vulnerable. While the tariff hike spares smartphones and pharmaceuticals for now, it puts the rest of India's US$87bil in US-bound exports on the line. 'Forget China Plus One right now. Companies are thinking of India Plus One,' Ahmed said. 'They are making plans to move out of India.' India's Commerce and Industry Ministry didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump says the tariff hike is punishment for India's purchase of discounted oil from Russia, which he argues helps fund President Vladimir Putin's war on Ukraine. But India was the only major economy to be hit with such 'secondary tariffs,' even though China is the largest overall buyer of Moscow's crude. If the 50% rate holds, Bloomberg Economics estimates US-bound exports from India could fall by 60% and put nearly 1% of gross domestic product at risk. Without exemptions for pharmaceuticals and electronics, the decline could reach 80%. Even the earlier 25% rate – already higher than in Vietnam, Malaysia or Bangladesh, was enough to threaten a 30% drop in exports. For comparison, Chinese goods face about a 30% US tariff. 'In addition to the economic challenge, politically it's difficult for Prime Minister Modi that India now pays a higher blanket rate than China,' said Alexander Slater, head of the India practice at consulting firm Capstone. China is pressing on other fronts as well. Beijing wants to limit tech transfers and equipment exports to India and South-East Asia, aiming to deter companies from relocating production, Bloomberg previously reported. China's rare earth curbs also hit Indian automakers earlier this year. — Bloomberg
Malaysian Reserve
2 hours ago
- Malaysian Reserve
HK court hears final arguments in landmark trial of Jimmy Lai
FORMER media mogul Jimmy Lai's national security trial in Hong Kong entered its final phase on Friday, as prosecutors began their closing arguments in a case that threatens to drive a wedge between Beijing and a Trump administration that wants him released. The hearing, delayed by a day because of torrential rain, offers a last chance for government lawyers to cement their portrayal of the imprisoned 77-year-old as a radical political figure, while his defense team will make a final stand to stave off what could be an effective life sentence for the democracy advocate. Lai, wearing a pale beige windbreaker and glasses, looked older and more frail than when he appeared in court in December. He waved to the crowd in the courtroom. People in the audience, warned by judges in a new directive not to break silence, waved back and made heart signs. Prosecutors said a medical team is standing by in case Lai felt weak. Presided over by three hand-picked national security judges, the trial is being closely watched by Western governments, which see the prosecution as politically motivated. US President Donald Trump in May said he would raise the case as part of trade talks with Beijing, while the EU and the UK have called for Lai's release. The Hong Kong government maintains that its judicial system is independent and has repeatedly condemned what it calls foreign interference in its internal affairs. The outcome of the trial will be scrutinized globally as a barometer for the rule of law and civil liberties in the city, which has seen its political opposition effectively silenced since the security law was enacted in 2020. The erosion of freedoms in Hong Kong has blurred the lines between the former British colony and mainland China, which has invited foreign efforts to strip the city of favorable treatments it has long enjoyed as a semi-autonomous Chinese territory. In 2020, Trump cited Beijing's increased political control of the Asian financial hub for signing an executive order to remove preferential US policies for the city. Earlier this year, the tariffs he imposed on Chinese exports applied for the first time to Hong Kong goods. Concerns over Lai's deteriorating health have sharpened the focus on the proceedings, with his legal team and family highlighting his weight loss and the risks posed by diabetes while in custody. He has been kept behind bars for more than 1,600 days, much of it in solitary confinement. In a statement on Wednesday, authorities said that Lai receives appropriate medical attention and he requested to remove himself from association with other inmates. A verdict is expected weeks or months after the closing arguments, which are scheduled to take place over eight days. Lai faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of conspiring to collude with foreign forces under the Beijing-imposed national security law. He has previously been found guilty of offenses tied to his activism and convicted of fraud over a lease dispute. Over a marathon trial that began in late 2023, the prosecution has argued that Lai was the 'mastermind' behind a conspiracy to incite international sanctions against Hong Kong and Chinese authorities. They cited evidence including testimony from Lai's former colleagues and activist collaborators to contend that his newspaper, the now-defunct Apple Daily, was a tool to foment unrest and that his meetings with US officials constituted collusion with foreign forces. After prosecutors make their case, Lai's lawyers will cap a defense that saw the activist himself testify for 52 days. They previously argued that Lai's discussions were opinion and analysis, not a criminal plot. Lai and three of his companies are also charged with a colonial-era sedition offense for allegedly publishing materials that provoked hatred against the government between 2019 and 2021. Apple Daily was the most prominent pro-democracy newspaper in Hong Kong, known for its strong criticism of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. It closed in June 2021 after police raided the newspaper's offices and arrested several executives and editors, and froze the company's assets. –BLOOMBERG
