memeorandum: Trump is now repaying Putin for helping him win the presidency (Greg Sargent/Washington Post)

3:50 PM ET, July 16, 2018

Top Items:

mccain.senate.gov:

SASC CHAIRMAN JOHN McCAIN ON TRUMP-PUTIN MEETING — Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement today on President Trump's meeting and press conference with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki:

Discussion: Home Page Rotator, BuzzFeed, Vox, Politico, WREG-TV, Roll Call, Mediaite, Washington Times, twitchy.com and The Week

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Trump is now repaying Putin for helping him win the presidency — THE MORNING PLUM: — The events of the past few days — culminating in President Trump's meeting today with Russian President Vladimir Putin — have rendered this interpretation inescapable: Trump is currently in the process …

Discussion: CNN, Little Green Footballs, Bloomberg, The Hill, Vox, Weekly Standard, CBS News, Task & Purpose and TVNewser

James Fallows / The Atlantic:

This Is the Moment of Truth for Republicans — There are exactly two possible explanations for the shameful performance the world witnessed on Monday, from a serving American president. — Either Donald Trump is flat-out an agent of Russian interests—maybe witting, maybe unwitting …

Axios:

Trump's extraordinary press conference was not normal — President Trump today, at a press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said he didn't see “any reason” why Russia would interfere in the 2016 election, in response to a question on whether he believed Putin or U.S. intelligence agencies.

Discussion: Politico and ABC News

CBS News:

Trump: “I don't know if I agree” with DNI Coats' warning about Russian cyberattacks — President Trump says he doesn't know if he agrees with a warning from Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats about the “critical” threat of potentially devastating cyberattacks targeting U.S. systems.

Discussion: CBS Denver, CBS New York, Washington Post and CBS Baltimore

Kate Riga / Talking Points Memo:

Fox News Host Calls Trump's Presser Performance ‘Disgusting,’ ‘Wrong’ — During his Fox Business News show Monday, host Neil Cavuto called President Donald Trump's failure to denounce Russian President Vladimir Putin for the Russian interference in the 2016 election “disgusting,” saying that the presser “set us back a lot.”

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

Trump and Putin vs. America — From the beginning of his administration, President Trump has responded to every new bit of evidence from the C.I.A., F.B.I. and N.S.A. that Russia intervened in our last election on his behalf by either attacking Barack Obama or the Democrats for being too lax …

David Morgan / CBS News:

Trump fist-bumped Turkish leader Erdogan, said he “does things the right way” — In the days before his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki Monday, President Donald Trump upset relations with America's allies during a visit to the United Kingdom and a contentious meeting with NATO leaders in Brussels.

Discussion: ABC News, CBS Los Angeles, The Atlantic, Joe.My.God., Weekly Standard, Washington Post and The Week

Justin Wise / The Hill:

‘Fox & Friends’ host: 'I don't understand' Trump tweet blaming US for bad Russia relations — “Fox & Friends” host Brian Kilmeade on Monday questioned why President Trump — would send a tweet blaming the U.S. for poor relations with Russia before his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Discussion: Mediaite

New York Times:

Trump, Putin and the ‘Incredible Offer’: Live Updates — Right Now: President Trump refused to say whether he believes his own intelligence agencies or President Vladimir V. Putin on the question of Russian interference in the 2016 American election. — In a remarkable news conference …

Discussion: CNN, Bloomberg, AOL, The Hill, ABC News, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, RedState, New Republic, Bustle, Joe.My.God., Media Matters for America, Just Security and Mashable

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / New York Times:
Trump, at Putin's Side, Questions U.S. Intelligence on 2016 Election

Discussion: Washington Post, Hot Air, NBC News, RedState and Outside the Beltway

Politico: POLITICO Playbook Power Briefing: Everything you need to know about Trump and Putin's joint appearance

Meridith McGraw / ABC News:
Trump casts doubt on US intelligence, calls Putin's meddling denial ‘strong and powerful’

Discussion: CNN, ThinkProgress, Townhall, IJR and ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES

Charles M. Blow / New York Times:
Trump, Treasonous Traitor

Discussion: Jacobin, CANNONFIRE, VICE News, FiveThirtyEight, The Week, Taylor Marsh, BloombergQuint and Home Page Rotator

Michael McFaul / Washington Post:
I've been in meetings with Putin. Here's what Trump can expect.

Discussion: AOL, MSNBC and Bustle

Brian Beutler / Crooked Media:
Trump and Putin Colluded In Public

Discussion: Hullabaloo, MSNBC and POLITICUSUSA

Rebecca Ballhaus / Wall Street Journal:
Trump Blames U.S. for Poor Relations With Moscow

Discussion: CNN, Philly.com, Raw Story, ABC News, Mediaite, The Week and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Ezra Klein / Vox:
Trump and Putin: what we know is damning

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, ThinkProgress and Mother Jones

Washington Post:
Ahead of Putin summit, Trump faults U.S. ‘stupidity’ for poor relations with Russia

Discussion: Axios, Politico, ABC News, Associated Press, RedState, Shareblue Media, Townhall, Bloomberg, Talking Points Memo, The Gateway Pundit, Vox, Fox News Insider, CNBC, Bustle, The Guardian, The Daily Beast and Reuters

Jim VandeHei / Axios:
An unforgettable Trump scene in unforgettable Trump story

Discussion: Washington Post and Shareblue Media

Jonathan Allen / NBC News:
Trump attacks Mueller at joint news conference with Putin, advances conspiracy theories

Discussion: MSNBC, Washington Post, CNN and The Daily Caller

CNN:
President Trump declines to side with US intelligence

Discussion: Axios, Jamie Dupree - AJC, Bustle and CBS San Francisco

Nidhi Prakash / BuzzFeed:
A Senator Said He Thinks “Something Close To” The Trump Pee Tape Exists

Discussion: Politico, MSNBC, Raw Story, Joe.My.God. and Vox

Brett Samuels / The Hill:
Fox's Hannity, Carlson to get first interviews with Trump after Putin summit

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

Angela Charlton / Associated Press:
Trump wins sympathy from Russian media ahead of summit

Discussion: CNN

Reuters:
Shock as Trump backs Putin on election meddling at summit

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

U.S. Department of Justice:

Russian National Charged in Conspiracy to Act as an Agent of the Russian Federation Within the United States — A criminal complaint was unsealed today in the District of Columbia charging a Russian national with conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian Federation within …

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Joe.My.God., Sputnik International and The Guardian

New York Times:

Woman Who Sought Secret Meeting for Trump and Putin Is Charged as Russian Agent — WASHINGTON — A Russian woman who tried to broker a pair of secret meetings between candidate Donald J. Trump and the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, during the 2016 presidential campaign …

Discussion: Bloomberg

Washington Post: Maria Butina, Russian gun rights advocate, charged in U.S. with acting as Russian Federation agent

MySanAntonio.com:

Plutonium went missing in San Antonio, but the government says nothing — Losses of civilian nuclear material are usually disclosed but when the government loses nuclear bomb ingredients it stays mum — Two security experts from the Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory drove to San Antonio …

Discussion: ABC News, Gizmodo, Daily Wire, Motherboard, Raw Story and Balloon Juice

Garrett M. Graff / Wired:

What Robert Mueller Knows—and 9 Areas He'll Pursue Next — The special counsel has collected a mountain of evidence in the Trump-Russia investigation, but so far only a tiny amount of it has been revealed in official indictments. Here are nine areas where we should expect answers as the inquiry unfolds.

Discussion: JONATHAN TURLEY

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:
Mueller's Politicized Indictment of Twelve Russian Intelligence Officers

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly, The Federalist, BloombergQuint and Daily Kos

Emily Crane / Daily Mail:

Bombshell Bourdain interview is published one month after his suicide: Celebrity chef unloads on 'rapey, gropey and disgusting Bill Clinton and hopes Weinstein is ‘beaten to death in jail’ — Anthony Bourdain gave a lengthy, wide ranging interview to journalist Maria Bustillos for her recently launched magazine Popula

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Maria Bustillos / Popula:
Bourdain Confidential — Anthony Bourdain had started smoking again …

Discussion: AOL, IndieWire, Conservative News Today, Daily Wire, Deadline, Washington Free Beacon, TheBlaze, Althouse, Observer and LifeZette

Michelle Martin / Reuters:

Germany: We can no longer fully rely on U.S. White House — BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's foreign minister said on Monday Europe could not rely on Donald Trump and needed to close ranks after the U.S. president called the European Union a “foe” with regard to trade.

Discussion: The Week, Politico and Talking Points Memo

Politico:

FCC sends Sinclair mega-deal to likely doom — FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Monday he has “serious concerns” about Sinclair Broadcast Group's acquisition of Tribune Media, saying he would send the transaction through a lengthy administrative process often viewed as a deal-killer.

Discussion: Reuters, Media Matters for America, Engadget and One America News Network, more at Mediagazer »

Eric Levitz / New York Magazine:

Yes, Normal Republican Elites Are a Threat to Democracy — Brett Kavanaugh would make a perfectly normal Supreme Court justice. The appellate judge boasts all of the conventional credentials for that post (as his former professors at Yale Law will eagerly inform you).