USA TODAY International Edition
Allies, adversary on Europe agenda
After NATO summit, Trump will have a 1-on-1 meeting with Putin
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump departs Tuesday for the seventh foreign trip of his presidency, visiting Western European countries and then sitting down for a one-on-one meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In combining meetings with NATO and British allies with a Russian tete-atete, Trump will display two hallmarks of his foreign policy: Getting tough on allies and trading partners over their defense spending and trade policies, while opening the door to better relations with longtime adversaries such as Russia, China and North Korea.
Trump is expected to make four stops over the seven days: Brussels; London; Glasgow, Scotland; and Helsinki.
Brussels: NATO summit
The first stop is Brussels, the headquarters of the North Atlantic alliance and the site of Trump’s second NATO summit. Last year’s also was held in Brussels, making Belgium one of only two countries he will have visited twice. (He had two stops in Italy last year.)
Trump will meet Tuesday with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg before participating in high-level sessions with the 28 allies on Wednesday.
The U.S. ambassador to NATO, Kay Bailey Hutchison, said the meetings would focus on NATO’s mission of countering Russia.
“Our major areas of deterrence would be Russia and the malign activities of Russia, the efforts of Russia to divide our democratic nation, INF Treaty violations,” she told reporters last week. The U.S. has accused Russia of violating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.
NATO summits also provide a venue for discussions with Georgia and Ukraine, who are not NATO members but have sought its protection from Russia, and with leaders of Afghanistan about the NATO strategy to defeat the Taliban there.
London: A long-awaited visit
Trump’s visit to the United Kingdom ends nearly six months of missed opportunities, scheduling conflicts and speculation about the state of the “special relationship.”
In just over 24 hours in England beginning Thursday afternoon, he will attend a black-tie business dinner at Blenheim Palace, working meetings with Prime Minister Theresa May at her country home at Chequers, and a tea-time visit with Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle.
He will travel to most of those meetings by helicopter, meaning he can likely avoid large protests in central London, including a giant “Baby Trump” blimp.
Scotland: A golf weekend
Trump’s schedule includes a weekend getaway one of his properties in Scotland. A British official told reporters Friday that Trump would be staying at Trump Turnberry in Ayrshire, one of two golf courses he owns in Scotland. The other is the Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeen.
But the president also has a family connection to Scotland. His mother, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, was born in the Western Isles and emigrated to the United States when she was 18.
There are no official events on the schedule, while in Scotland, but U.S. ambassador to Great Britain Woody Johnson said Trump would “spend some time preparing for Helsinki.”
Helsinki: Trump-Putin summit
Trump has met his Russian counterpart twice before, but those meetings were at gatherings of other world leaders – “on the margins” of summits in Hamburg, Germany, and Da Nang, Vietnam, last year.
The Helsinki meeting will be the first formal meeting with Putin.
After arriving Sunday evening and attending the traditional meet-andgreet with embassy officials, Trump will hold a series of meetings July 16.
The first is with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, then three sessions with Putin: a one-on-one with just translators and note-takers, a larger meeting with advisers, and a working lunch.
“What is important in all these cases is dialogue. And this can take many forms. But what is important here is that we start a discussion,” said Jon Huntsman, the U.S. ambassador to Russia. “The president has determined that now is the time for direct communication between himself and President Putin, and that it is in the interest of the United States, in the interest of Russia, in the interest of peace and security around the world.”
Trump is to return to Washington after the meetings July 16.