Senate Republicans are warning President Trump against inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin to the White House in the fall as the president continues to recover from the outcry after their summit in Helsinki last week.
While Republicans are not necessarily against Trump speaking with Putin and want him to keep channels of communication open, they are wary of the Russian head of state visiting the White House. They believe that staying in the good graces of NATO allies should be prioritized well ahead of a visit from the Russians.
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“I’m one who thinks it’s a good thing for leaders of countries to talk, but I would consider putting that one on the back burner for a while,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.
News of a possible meeting emerged Thursday when White House press secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted that “discussions are already underway” toward another meeting between the presidential pair. She said that the president had national security adviser John Bolton invite the Russian president.
As in the aftermath of the Helsinki summit, where members of both parties decried the president’s performance during a press conference alongside Putin for not supporting U.S. intelligence agencies, the president is not getting much support for a White House meeting with Putin.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” said Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., who called Putin a “hostile actor” from the U.S. point of view. “I would prefer that he be kept at an arms length until his behavior improves.”
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One concern is the message a Trump-Putin meeting would send to NATO allies, many of whom are concerned after the president’s appearance in Brussels at the NATO summit over a week ago and his trip to the United Kingdom, where he dinged Prime Minister Theresa May in an interview.
“I don’t think he should perceived as being on a path to some normalized relations on par with our NATO allies,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. “So I think we have to be very careful about perceptions.”
Members are also wary about any such meeting taking place ahead of the 2018 midterm elections. When pressed further if he wanted it pushed into the fall after Nov. 6, Cornyn flashed a wry smile and reiterated that it should go on the “back burner for a while.”
Republican lawmakers are still feeling the aftershocks from the Helsinki summit, which forced the president into days of backtracking followed by more questionable statements from the White House. In particular, members were concerned by the president’s claim that Russia is no longer targeting the U.S. months ahead of the 2018 midterm elections (the White House later denied this was Trump’s intent).
“We ought to think it out. ‘What are you going to get out of it?'” asked Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala. “What did we get out of Helsinki? Not anything I know about.”
