Of all the advice the White House has heard about how the president can help his party going into a tough, crucial midterm election, I am reasonably sure no one came up with this idea:
Thatโs right: Even as congressional Republicans and key members of Trumpโs own administration try to figure out what the boss said to Boss Putin in Helsinki, and to assess the damage to U.S. interests and Trumpโs own domestic and international standing, POTUS is working on a sequel. In the United States. In the autumn.
As New Yorkโs Jonathan Chait wrote when Trump aired the thought of a second โsummitโ with Putin, heโs โcharacteristically doubling down in the most literal way possible.โ But I doubt anyone thought โdiscussions are already underwayโ toward a meeting in Washington so very soon. After Labor Day, the president and his party are supposed to be focused exclusively on the twin goals of getting Brett Kavanaugh onto the Supreme Court and flogging โbaseโ voters to the polls to save the GOPโs hold on Congress. A TrumpโPutin summit in the middle of all this is about as welcome to Republicans as a rattlesnake beneath the breakfast table.
Republican leaders are doubtless hoping they can escape repercussions from the first summit because GOP voters donโt seem to care about what Trump did or said, while other voters (who have a much dimmer view of the bizarre affair) will perhaps forget about it. That wonโt be possible if Trump insists on a sequel. The presidentโs whole consistently disturbing midsummer mystery tour to Europe never made much political sense given the timing. Bringing his global disruptions back home, particularly in the form of Vladimir Putin himself, is beyond baffling.
You do have to wonder what Putin and his circle think of this strange development, and how he should express gratitude to his great admirer for his generosity. What does he do in Washington? Give Trump an opportunity to restore his alpha dog image after his beta dog behavior in Helsinki? Double down on the election meddling allegations and barnstorm with Trump through the House battleground states? Nothing seems too odd to be incredible at this point, unless it all turns out to be just another Trump feint.
