Trump heads to Putin summit with no clear goal — and worries that he'll make concessions
HELSINKI, Finland_When President Donald Trump flew to Singapore last month to meet with Kim Jong Un, he had a clear agenda: to try personal diplomacy, rather than insults and threats, in a still-unsuccessful effort to convince North Korea to give up its arsenal of nuclear weapons.
But Trump has no obvious goal and no agreed-upon agenda other than basking in the global spotlight when he meets here Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, apparently planning to wing it - much as he did in Singapore - in hopes of charming the former KGB officer.
Although Trump himself proposed the summit in March, only one White House aide, national security adviser John Bolton, has met with senior Russians officials, a stark departure from typical planning. The two sides similarly have set no "deliverables,"
