At Trump-Putin Summit, 'Optics' May Be Biggest Result

The Trump-Putin summit is indeed happening, and now it has a date: The two leaders will meet July 16 in Helsinki, Finland. The White House and Kremlin announced the date simultaneously, which the Guardian sees as part of a "carefully choreographed rollout" from both sides. This summit will likely be about "optics" as much as anything tangible that might emerge on arms control or other security issues, writes Andrew Roth. For Putin, it's about showing that Russia is part of the world community, and for Trump, it's about defying critics who think the White House is too warm to the Kremlin.

On Thursday morning, Trump continued to belittle the investigation into possible collusion between his campaign and Russia, notes the AP. "Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with Meddling in our Election!" Trump tweeted. "Where is the DNC Server, and why didn’t Shady James Comey and the now disgraced FBI agents take and closely examine it? Why isn’t Hillary/Russia being looked at? So many questions, so much corruption!" Trump and Putin have met face-to-face twice informally at previous world gatherings, but this will be their first formal summit.

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