Trump looked weak when faced with Putin

However, Time magazine reported that the summit between the US president and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin ended with Trump looking “weak” in front of Putin – meaning the US president suffered on both counts.
First of all, Trump failed to criticise Russia’s annexation of Crimea, its alleged hand in the use of a nerve agent on British soil, and its attempts to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election, which Trump won.
Second, Trump went further in going against the conclusions of his country’s intelligence agencies, House and Senate committees that Russia interfered in the election. Trump’s refusal to endorse American intelligence and confront Russia prompted Dan Coats, Director of National Intelligence, to come out and defend his office’s conclusions.
Lastly, Trump even endorsed Putin’s idea to have representatives of US Special Counsel Robert Mueller travel to Russia to interview Russian agents, in exchange for giving Russians access to the US agents for its own investigation – a proposal that looks very much like a trap to discredit and neutralise the US investigation process.
Hence, it looks like Trump has met his superior in international diplomacy, in the form of Russia’s Putin.
Chavalit Wannawijitr
Chiang Mai