With everything that’s gone down regarding Donald Trump and Russia — especially the hacking of the U.S. election, carried out by the latter in an effort to aid the Republican nominee — one would think that he’d chill out after taking office. Maybe keep his distance and not be Captain Obvious? Silly rabbit. Trump even acknowledged the hacking last week (for the first time), and he admonished Vladimir Putin in the process, but now, a report claims that he’ll meet with Vlad the Bad in person.
Not only that, but Trump has decided that his first international trip as president will be to Russia. This seems symbolic, somehow, but Trump’s made no secret of hoping to improve relations between the countries. Yet this is an oddly timed report after the release of the “Golden Showers” file that alleges Trump hired peeing Russian prostitutes, along with many other more damning claims. According to the Sunday Times, Trump is pushing forward with sort-of diplomacy, and he and Putin will discuss nukes:
Donald Trump is planning to hold a summit with Vladimir Putin within weeks of becoming president — emulating Ronald Reagan’s Cold War deal-making in Reykjavik with Mikhail Gorbachev.
Trump and his team have told British officials that their first foreign trip will be a meeting with the Russian leader, with the Icelandic capital in pole position to host the superpower talks as it did three decades ago.
In a bid to reset western relations with the Kremlin, Trump will begin work on a deal limiting nuclear weapons.
A mere day after the Senate Intelligence Committee announced a probe to find links between Russia and Trump’s campaign, the president-elect is not deterred. And even after Trump and Putin both signaled an expansion of their countries’ nuclear capabilities, and Trump uttered the words “arms race,” this report says they’ll discuss … nukes.
Cue the tiny cameras?
UPDATE: Trump spokesman Sean Spicer took to Twitter on Saturday night to deny the report is true.
Nope, not true https://t.co/bkEqDiD7qV
— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) January 15, 2017
(Via Sunday Times & The Hill)