What should Trump say when meeting Putin?
(Baonghean.vn) - According to an advisor to former US President Ronald Reagan, US President Donald Trump must be firm, not friendly, when meeting his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on July 16.
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| Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump. Photo: AP |
Trump and Putin will hold their first bilateral summit in Helsinki, Finland, and will meet one-on-one for about 90 minutes, without aides present. The meeting comes just days after special counsel Robert Mueller indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers for hacking into computer systems during the 2016 US election.
According to Mark Weinberg, a former adviser in the Reagan administration, Trump must be very careful in the first few moments to send a signal that Russia's actions "will not be tolerated."
“From an opening remarks perspective, the President of the United States should speak first and know exactly what he is going to say,” Weinberg wrote on Fox News.
Option 1, according to Weinberg, is for Trump to say to Putin: “We meet at a critical time. I don’t like what your country is trying to do to our country. We have a lot to discuss. Let’s get started.”
Option 2, as outlined by this former adviser, is for Trump to say: “Mr. President, there are people in my country who do not want this meeting to take place. But there are some deeply troubling issues between us that cannot be ignored.”
Weinberg noted that Trump should address Putin as “Mr. President” rather than the more familiar “Vladimir,” despite Putin’s claims that the two leaders often address each other by their last names. Weinberg also said that Trump should keep the handshake brief, maintain a serious expression, and absolutely refrain from patting Putin on the back.
Weinberg, who helped plan five meetings between former US President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, admitted that his team missed the importance of those few initial moments and did not recommend what the US leader should say or do, thus giving the Soviet leader the upper hand.
“As usual, Reagan was polite and let Gorbachev have the first say, and as a result, Gorbachev, with his charisma and media savvy, won the public relations battle. Reagan eventually recovered, but not before considerable turmoil in the White House aide,” he wrote.
Putin and Trump have met on the sidelines of past conferences, but this is the first summit between the two Russian-American leaders.
