Name:   copperline - Subject:   What do you expect Trump to do? Date:   7/4/2017 11:17:29 AM

How should Trump handle his meeting with Putin?

This is a quick survey of local opinions about this historic meeting about to happen in Europe:   Trump & Putin will now have a longer, face to face meeting than previously announced.     What are the important things Trump should say & do when he gets the chance to speak directly to V Putin?

All US and it’s allies’ Intelligence services agree that Putin orchestrated a large scale effort to influence the outcome of the US Presidential election by numerous means at his disposal.      There was large scale production of misinformation injected into the media stream that made negative allegations about H Clinton, documented attempts to probe into electronic voting systems, and the strategic release of stolen communications for the purpose of undermining the Democratic Party & their candidate.   These Russian efforts were designed to undermine H Clinton and promote her opponent in the general election.  We cannot say conclusively that this clinched the narrow election for Trump, but it did happen… and clearly was interference with the most basic of democratic processes in our nation.

Is that serious enough that a sitting President should bring it up and confront the Russians for their attack on our system for electing our leaders?

Should Trump aggressively demand an apology and a promise to never do this again?  Or should he just mention it in a passing comment and move on to something else?   Should Trump emphasize the seriousness of the issue or play it down so as not to disrupt US-Russian relations?

Will Trump be able to confront Putin since the outcome of the Russian actions benefitted Trump so directly?   Since he benefitted from the operation, is he in a position to credibly complain about attempts to manipulate the outcome of our election?  

 Was this election interference an important & crucial event or was it just something Trump should ignore in favor of improved relations with the Russian government?

 Should Trump create his reply based on outrage that the Russians did this, or will he play it down since the outcome of their efforts favored him?

Weigh in with opinions and what you hope Trump  will do... and let's see at the end of the week what the outcome is.