One of President Trump’s goals on his upcoming foreign trip to Europe is to foster a “more constructive relationship” with Russia, according to White House advisers.
“As the president has made clear, he’d like the United States and the entire West to develop a more constructive relationship with Russia,” national security adviser H.R. McMaster said Thursday. “But he’s also made clear we’ll do what is necessary to confront Russia’s destabilizing behavior.”
McMaster said Trump will leave on Wednesday after the Fourth of July weekend. Trump will travel first to Warsaw, Poland to meet with leaders and deliver a speech. He’ll then travel to Hamburg, Germany for the Group of 20 summit.
“While this trip is short, the agenda is packed,” McMaster said.
He confirmed that Trump will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the summit in Hamburg. That would be Trump’s first meeting as president with the leader of Russia.
The meeting comes amid FBI and congressional investigations into Russia’s attempted meddling in the 2016 election, an issue that has overshadowed Trump’s presidency. The White House wouldn’t say if Trump plans to discuss Russia’s attempted election interference during his meeting with Putin.
“We’re still finalizing schedules,” National Economic Director Gary Cohn said during the briefing with reporters Thursday. “So agendas for meetings have not been set up.”
In Poland, Trump will meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda and speak at the Three Seas Initiative Summit of central and eastern European nations. McMaster said Trump’s speech will focus on infrastructure development and energy security.
“The primary objectives are three: to promote American prosperity, to protect American interests and to provide American leadership,” McMaster said of the trip.
In addition to Putin, Trump is also expected to meet with other world leaders, including Chancellor Merkel of Germany, Prime Minister May of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Abe of Japan, President Moon of South Korea, President Xi of China, President Peña Nieto of Mexico, President Jokowi of Indonesia and Prime Minister Lee of Singapore, McMaster said.
Last month, Trump traveled to Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Vatican, Brussels and Italy on his first foreign trip as president.
“We saw the president make great progress in Saudi Arabia on denying terrorists safe havens, cutting off their funding and discrediting their perverted ideology,” McMaster said. “He’ll continue to build on that work, while also addressing other threats, including attempts by revisionist powers to subvert the global order that undergirds our common security and economic prosperity.”
During that trip, Trump, who spoke at NATO headquarters, was criticized for not explicitly pledging to support the NATO treaty’s Article 5. That treaty states that an attack against one country is considered an attack on all in the alliance.
On Thursday, McMaster emphasized Trump’s support for the principle.
“President Trump has demonstrated a commitment to American alliances because strong alliances further American security and American interests,” he said. “While there are no official NATO meetings on this trip, the president will meet with many NATO leaders and he will reiterate both America’s commitment to NATO’s common defense and his expectations that all countries share responsibilities and burdens for that defense.”
McMaster said Trump will also push to expand economic opportunities for Americans, making clear “even to our allies that American cannot tolerate unfair trade and economic practices that disadvantage our workers and our industries.”
“We’re prepared to act when necessary, but we hope to resolve our differences in ways that benefit all sides and are based on a drive toward reciprocal trade and economic relationships,” he said.
He said Trump will also discuss energy on the trip, pushing “to create robust, open and fair markets that drive economic growth and leave no countries hostage to energy market manipulation.”
