U.S.
President Donald J. Trump is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir
Putin on July 16, 2018. Many are speculating on what should be a tense meeting
given America’s lack of favor with Vladimir and the fact that most American
politicians including those who vehemently support Trump, still see Russia as
America’s great enemy. Over the last two years, we have seen how President
Trump has consistently defended and complimented President Putin without any
refrain, and this has created speculations and assertions by many that Vladimir
has some anti-Oxyclean dirt on Trump. Whatever the case, based on President
Trump’s consistently great and positive attitude toward “tremendous” Putin, we
can assume that this meeting will be one of compliments and compromise. Trump
has always acted in a subordinate manner to Putin, from the campaign for
President of the United States right up to the present. Furthermore, if Putin
really have some dirt on Trump, this meeting will certainly be one of Trump
willingly negotiating and seeking leverage to get the dirt permanently buried or
destroyed. The price will certainly be astronomical, and President Trump has
already provided some hints as to how much he might be willing to compromise.
For example, regarding Russia’s annexation of Crimea, President Trump has
remarked, “We’ll see”, and John Bolton, his national security adviser, who previously
met with Putin, has not made the issue clearer than his boss, as in a CNN
interview, Bolton also used the same phrase, “We’ll see”. This Bolton explains,
is President Trump’s approach to negotiation and meeting. This is probably
indicating that nothing is off the table until the meeting. Does this also mean
that the United States will lift all Russian sanctions? Probably. However, it
is not likely since President Trump must balance many scales.
The
fact that President Trump is far more willing to attack and criticize American
politicians and party members, as well as senators, even Senator McCain who has
done more than his share for his nation – demonstrates that President Vladimir
Putin holds a higher regard in Trump’s mind and heart than many Americans, even
those who are blindly loyal to and support Donald J. Trump in all his
endeavors, decisions, and policies however questionable. One thing we are
certain of is that President Trump will certainly throw anyone under the bus to
defend himself, his interest, and his turf – ask “Sloppy Steve” and a few
others who gave their all and then were booted from the administration and subsequently
disregarded. Hopefully, this meeting will not involve too much compromise on
President Trump’s part or too much loss for America, the American people and
the rest of the world as Putin seeks to establish a domineering Russia and
himself as a global strongman in this era. There should be no consideration on Russia’s
annexation of Crimea as United States’ foreign and diplomatic policies have
always opposed such aggression and oppressive hostile act by other nations. At
the same time, we can see why Putin and other leaders engaging in invasion and
annexation would not value American standards and blessings – we can recall the
taking over of Hawaii and the elimination of its monarchy and other incidents
where America itself has used force to accomplish change in sovereign states.
Thus, this may not even be up for discussion and agreement with Russia’s
President Vladimir Putin as he might recall America’s aided war of Afghans
fighting against Russia. There are so many points of insistence and challenge
that could potentially emerge in this meeting if Donald J. Trump really decides
to act like President of the United States rather as just the Donald. Stepping
aside from this consideration, President Trump will return even more strongly
asserting that Russia had not interfered or meddled in the 2016 U.S.
Presidential Election.
The
meeting between President Trump and President Putin is scheduled to take place
in Helsinki on July 16, and is scheduled to include discussions on a range of
national security issues, the relationship between Russia and the United
States, and certainly economics given previous sanctions against Russia and the
fallout after Russian and American responses following the Obama-era ending
sanctions. President Trump has indicated that the two representatives of their
respective nations may speak about Syria and Ukraine. In so doing, President
Trump has never changed his tone on Russia or Putin, indicating that the talks
and getting along with Russia is for the good of everyone and the world. Thus,
not making the Ukraine issue a big deal might be relevant to accomplishing
Russian cooperation and relationship from the perspective of President Trump. We
will have to wait and see how this meeting unfolds and the impact on U.S.
national and global policies and its relationship with Russia. Vladimir Putin
has proven himself both shrewd and capable over the past several years, and
Trump will certainly meet his counter-American match in this July 2018
scheduled meeting.
Image source: The Independent-UK (2018)
About
the Author
Dr.
Donovan A. McFarlane teaches in the fields of Political Science and Public
Administration to include courses on American Government, The Presidency, and
Public Policy. He has extensively taught in the fields of Business and
Management at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Some of the major courses
he has facilitated include International Business, Organizational Behavior,
Marketing, Strategic Management, among other courses. He currently writes
articles in several areas for his Blog, Forum
of Business, Organizations, and Society (FOBOS): http://businessorganizationssociety.blogspot.com/
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