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Charles J. Sykes in The Weekly Standard:

“We simply do not know (and it remains dangerous to speculate) whether the Russians have ‘kompromat’ on Trump. Perhaps the reality is worse; maybe Trump really believes all of this and genuinely admires what Putin represents.”

Bullies yearn to cower before bigger bullies, Mr. Sykes writes, and Mr. Trump found that bigger bully in Mr. Putin. Last week, conservatives were celebrating Mr. Trump’s second Supreme Court nomination. But even that prize, Mr. Sykes writes, is not worth “the debasement of the presidency” and “the diminishment of our role in the world.” Read more »

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Paul Bonicelli in The Federalist:

“President Trump missed the chance to show Putin as well as the world that a Trump relationship with Russia will be different than Obama’s.”

Mr. Bonicelli calls the Trump-Putin meeting a “missed opportunity” and envisions how it should have gone: a direct confrontation in private, followed by a public warning against election meddling by any country. He says Mr. Trump will now have to make up for the deference he showed Mr. Putin with harsher actions. Read more »

From the Left

James Fallows in The Atlantic:

“[…] never before have I seen an American president consistently, repeatedly, publicly and shockingly advance the interests of another country over those of his own government and people.”

Mr. Trump is either intentionally advancing Russian interests, Mr. Fallows writes, or is “so profoundly ignorant, insecure and narcissistic” that he doesn’t realize he is doing so. Mr. Fallows says Republican lawmakers must now decide whether to defend their president or their country. Read more »

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Fred Kaplan in Slate:

“[...] any member of Trump’s national security team who doesn’t resign immediately ... is from this point on doing a disservice to the United States.”

The summit meeting proved that Mr. Trump is completely in thrall to Mr. Putin, Mr. Kaplan writes. He exhorts the president’s aides not to stand by if he finds more “opportunities to cave” in future meetings with the Russian leader. Read more »

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Alina Polyakova for the Brookings Institution:

“The worst scenario was avoided in Helsinki: There was no grand bargain on Ukraine, no Russian deal on Syria and no reneging of U.S. security commitments to Europe. But it was still the Russian president who won at the summit.”

Mr. Trump let Mr. Putin set the agenda for meeting, Ms. Polyakova says, with the Russian president using the opportunity to blame Ukraine for the continuing violence there and to suggest a mediation role for Russia in the Middle East. Read more »

From the Center:

Anne Applebaum in The Washington Post:

“Trump has just composed the most elaborate thank-you note in history. As millions watched around the world, he said it out loud: Thank you, Vladimir Putin, for helping me win my campaign!”

Ms. Applebaum wonders if, far from tempting Mr. Trump to cancel his meeting with Mr. Putin, the indictment of 12 Russian agents last Friday made the president more eager for it so he could tell Mr. Putin in person how much he appreciated his help. Read more »