Even if I get Moscow as ‘retribution,’ critics will say it’s not good enough

The US president wrote on Sunday evening that he was on his way to Helsinki, and that he was “looking forward to meeting with President Putin tomorrow.” He went on to state that he knows what the response will be from the mainstream media and the left.

Trump’s comment does indeed come amid speculation from politicians on both sides of the aisle – and the Atlantic – ahead of the meeting, as well as amid a frantic mainstream media landscape.

The US establishment as well as at least some of Washington’s western allies have, meanwhile, indeed spared no effort to prevent or at least to spoil the forthcoming summit. The US media are almost competing in providing their audience with most bizarre conspiracy theories about possible collusion between Trump and Putin an a renewed push to promote the narrative that has become increasingly threadbare over the last couple of years.

The Democrats urged him not to meet alone with “trained KGB vet” Vladimir Putin.

“If you insist on meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland, on Monday, we write to urge that you include senior members of your team and not meet one-on-one with Mr Putin, as reportedly planned,” a group of eight senators wrote.