Top Items:


‘Very much counter to the plan’: Trump defies advisers in embrace of Putin — Administration officials had hoped that maybe, just maybe, Monday's summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladmir Putin would end differently — without a freewheeling 46-minute news conference …
Discussion:
Politico, CNN, Salt Lake Tribune, The Atlantic, The Hill, NPR, ABC News, The Week, Shareblue Media, TheBlaze, Mother Jones, RAPPLER, Power Line, Vox, Al Jazeera English and IJR
RELATED:


Trump's Own Team: He ‘Looked Incredibly Weak’ Next to Putin … Donald Trump's much-anticipated meeting with Vladimir Putin on Monday offered him yet another opportunity to defy those who've criticized his coziness with the Russian leader. — But on a global stage, Trump didn't just cower …
Discussion:
Splinter, Bustle, POLITICUSUSA, WEEK-TV and Vox


Trump Sheds All Notions of How a President Should Conduct Himself Abroad — WASHINGTON — President Trump, who gleefully defies the norms of presidential behavior, went somewhere in Helsinki, Finland, on Monday where none of his predecessors have ever gone: He accepted the explanation …
Discussion:
Politico, The Guardian, Mediaite, CNN, Washington Post, NewsBusters, France 24, RedState, NPR, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, Vox, Balloon Juice, Conservative Review and TheBlaze


Trump Shows the World He's Putin's Lackey — Maybe the president is exactly as compromised as he looks. — No matter how low your expectations for the summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin on Monday, it was hard not to be staggered by the American president's slavish and toadying performance.
Discussion:
USA Today, Shareblue Media, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Real Clear Politics, Spectator USA, NBC News, CNN and Bustle


Putin eats Trump's lunch in Helsinki — This is no way to win against Russia — Monday in Helsinki, President Trump left many deeply disappointed in his approach to his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. — There was nothing inherently wrong with Trump's summit with Putin.
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Atlantic, Raw Story, TIME and Wall Street Journal


Trump officials embarrassed by Putin show — President Trump sucking up to Vladamir Putin after the summit in Helsinki yesterday was such an unbelievable, indelible moment that many deflated White House officials didn't even bother to defend or explain it. — Between the lines …
Discussion:
Political Wire and Washington Post


Trump just colluded with Russia. Openly. — THE ENDURING image of the U.S.-Russia summit in Helsinki on Monday will be that of President Trump standing next to Vladimir Putin and suggesting he found Mr. Putin's “powerful” denial at least as persuasive as the U.S. intelligence community's …
Discussion:
Breitbart, ThinkProgress, Mother Jones, Defense One and BloombergQuint


We just watched a U.S. president acting on behalf of a hostile power — President Trump habitually calls the press “the enemy of the people” — a loathsome calumny, redolent of dictatorships, that he repeated on Sunday. In fact, by asking tough questions at Trump's joint news conference …
Discussion:
CNN, NewsBusters and HuffPost


Trump's Appeasement Summit with Putin — For decades, American historians have viewed the summit between President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, in 1961, as the worst ever between Washington and Moscow. Kennedy described the encounter, in Vienna …
Discussion:
The Federalist, Fox News, BBC, Bloomberg and The American Spectator


The Trump First Doctrine — Putin respects strength but Trump showed weakness. — Donald Trump left for Europe a week ago with his reputation enhanced by a strong Supreme Court nomination. He returned Monday with that reputation diminished after a tumultuous week of indulging what amounts to the Trump First Doctrine.
Discussion:
Politico


The Republican Party Is Now the Blame America Party … At some point in the last week or so, “Make America Great Again” became “Blame America First.” — What we saw on Monday from Helsinki is why conservatives (like me) can't back Trump—even with two Supreme Court picks.
Discussion:
CNN, New York Times and Washington Post

SASC CHAIRMAN JOHN McCAIN ON TRUMP-PUTIN MEETING
Discussion:
Mediaite, New York Times, CNN, Weekly Standard, ABC News, BBC, fox8.com, The Moderate Voice, Al Jazeera English, Tennessean.com, CBS News, Contemptor, TheBlaze, Chicago Sun-Times, Fox News Insider, Bustle, ThinkProgress, RedState, Vox, The Gateway Pundit, Chicago Business, Mother Jones, Law & Crime, Axios, VICE News, Politico, CNBC, Bloomberg, Cyberscoop, Roll Call, Home Page Rotator, BuzzFeed, Hot Air, National Review, Refinery29, RT, WREG-TV, Breitbart, Outside the Beltway and CBS New York


Putin's view triumphs in Helsinki as Trump questions U.S. intelligence
Discussion:
USA Today, Axios, Wall Street Journal and RedState

Trump's Helsinki Disgrace
Discussion:
HuffPost, Politico and neo-neocon, more at Mediagazer »

If you work for Trump, quit now
Discussion:
ABC News, Front Page Magazine, BostonGlobe.com and Hot Air

After Trump-Putin Summit, The Pearl-Clutching Media Is A Laughingstock
Discussion:
National Review

What Critics Missed About the Trump-Putin Summit
Discussion:
Grabien News, The Hill and Hit & Run

Trump's Helsinki humiliation
Discussion:
Fox News, BloombergQuint, Washington Post, Vox, Splinter, ABC News, One America News Network, Bustle, Breitbart, Politico and The Daily Beast

Putin's poodle: Trump sells out U.S. intelligence agencies with the world watching
Discussion:
The Guardian, The Week and Mediaite


Statement from DNI Coats
Discussion:
Washington Post, New York Times, Vox, The Week, The Daily Caller, Cyberscoop and Washington Free Beacon

A New Servility — Donald Trump's atrocious performance …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Washington Post, Axios and ABC News

Putin refuses to look at Mueller indictment during Fox News interview
Discussion:
Fox News, Fox News Insider and JONATHAN TURLEY

At Summit With Russia, Trump Betrays His Country in Plain Sight
Discussion:
Law & Crime, Washington Post, Mediaite, Breitbart, The Guardian, The Daily Beast, Raw Story, Vox, HuffPost, Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Mahablog

Putin, in Fox News interview, denies having dirt on Trump, calls meddling charge ‘utterly ridiculous’
Discussion:
Fox News Insider, HuffPost, TheJournal.ie, American Thinker, The Daily Caller, Townhall, Joe.My.God., RedState, Mother Jones and The Daily Beast

Trump replaces national pride with personal vanity
Discussion:
CBS News, New York Times and Mediaite

In rebuke to Trump, senators may vote to side with US intel community
Discussion:
The Guardian, Test Feed Using Fields, KTLA and Jamie Dupree - AJC


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:
The Intercept, Lawfare, CNN, Washington Post, BuzzFeed, NPR, Hot Air, Splinter, Jamie Dupree - AJC, Roll Call, Sputnik International, Vox, HuffPost, Booman Tribune, The Guardian, Balloon Juice, emptywheel, twitchy.com, The Week, National Review, Daily Kos, RT, Bustle, Law & Crime, WGN-TV, Joe.My.God. and CANNONFIRE
RELATED:


Mariia Butina, Who Sought ‘Back Channel’ 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:
The Federalist, The Daily Beast, NPR, Bloomberg, Talking Points Memo, HuffPost, VICE News, National Review, Law & Crime, Mother Jones and BloombergQuint


Trump's ‘Missing DNC Server’ Is Neither Missing Nor a Server … Donald Trump turns to right-wing conspiracy theories when he's cornered, and he was cornered on Monday. Standing feet away from Vladimir Putin at a press conference following their Helsinki tete-a-tete, a reporter challenged Trump …
Discussion:
Motherboard, Politifact.com Truth … and Gizmodo


I Was a White House Stenographer. Trump Wasn't a Fan. — On Friday, at a news conference with Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain a reporter asked President Trump about disparaging comments he had made about her to The Sun newspaper. He denied ever having said them and declared …
Discussion:
Raw Story
RELATED:

Watchdog: First lady spokeswoman may have violated Hatch Act with ‘MAGA’ tweet
Discussion:
Washington Post, Mediaite, RedState and USA Today

Legal Experts Say Manafort Could Be Cutting Plea Deal as Judge Suddenly Delays Proceedings — The judge overseeing Paul Manafort's federal court case on charges of tax evasion and bank fraud in Virginia delayed proceedings in a surprise move on Monday afternoon.


U.S. Treasury moves to protect identities of ‘dark money’ political donors — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury said on Monday that it will no longer require certain tax-exempt organizations including politically active nonprofit groups, such as the National Rifle Association and Planned Parenthood …
Discussion:
Axios


American Democracy in Crisis: The Challenges of Voter Knowledge, Participation, and Polarization — The Direction of the Country — Despite a strong economy, Americans remain relatively pessimistic in their outlook on the direction of the country. Nearly two-thirds (64%) …
Discussion:
Political Wire