In three hours of grilling, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo repeatedly claimed that the President had fully briefed him. But he offered few insights and sidestepped straightforward questions.
The Russian President went into the meeting looking to keep the status quo on issues including Syria, Ukraine, and arms control. Trump delivered that, and then some.
Despite the Justice Department’s recent indictment of twelve Russian intelligence agents, in Helsinki, Trump fully embraced Putin’s bare-faced denial of U.S. election meddling.
Even more than with most subjects, when Trump brings up Russia he seems to be speaking of something that is defined less by reality than by what he needs it to be.