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One particular part of it caught my eye.
He wrote -- quote -- "Much of our news media is indeed the enemy of the people."
As a Russian-born journalist who's covered Russia for years -- and, obviously, journalists in Russia, especially those who cover the Kremlin and Putin critically, have a way of ending up either in jail or dead.
What do you make of President Trump calling journalists the enemy of the people right before a summit with Putin?
have this meeting. And it is basically, his affinity for Putin is sincere. Putin is the guy, I think, that he sees on the world stage who is most like him. They think alike.
I think they will have a wonderful time. And that's really what I'm afraid of, is that they're going to emerge from this meeting sort of both glowing, Trump talking about what great friends they are, what a wonderful understanding they have.
And that, especially in stark contrast to what we have been witnessing over the last few days in regards to NATO and America's allies in the West, is really a frightening prospect.
TAPPER: Julia, I want to show us some pictures here of President Putin meeting in 2007 with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
She has a well-known fear of dogs. Putin brought his dog to the meeting. You can see in the pictures she is obviously very uncomfortable, if not scared.
Do you expect President Putin will pull something similarly to exert his dominance in his meeting with President Trump?
IOFFE: I think Putin is too smart for that. He knows how to work people.
He's -- I mean, he's a pro. He was a pro going into it. He has certainly learned on the job. I think he knows that, with our president, what works is flattery. The same way that Donald Trump said he wants Boris Johnson to be the prime minister of the United Kingdom, but -- because he said nice things about Donald Trump...
And I think Trump is going to come out of there feeling lovely and glowing that this very tough guy, the president of the other major nuclear power, has showered him with praises, called him a genius, or maybe a very stable genius. And I think that's going to go a long way with Trump.
TAPPER: And, Masha, what's your biggest concern?
What might President Trump give away, in your view, in a summit like this with President Putin that could really cause problems for the world?
GESSEN: Look, first of all, my biggest concern is that we have two leaders who are habitual liars who are meeting with no note takers, and who are going to come out an tell us what happened in the meeting at a press conference, and where there's no way to check what actually happened.
Now, this normally wouldn't be an issue, but these are two public servants, or at least one of them is still a democratically elected president of the United States, who ought to be accountable. And we ought to have an accurate record of what happens in this meeting, which we're never going to have.
Now, in terms of what I'm afraid he might say when he actually emerges, I -- he might say something that legitimizes the Russian occupation of Crimea. He may say something and he may actually negotiate with Putin a sort of understanding on the kind of influence that Russia exerts and what Russia thinks of as its immedi...
Putin very much wants to sort of negotiate a new post-World War II world in which both countries have spheres of influence. And I think that makes an instinctual kind of sense to Donald Trump.
TAPPER: All right, thanks to both Masha Gessen and Julia Ioffe.
More tough talk from President Trump as he jets to Helsinki to meet with Vladimir Putin. He's calling the European Union, as well as others, a foe.
TRUMP: I think we have a lot of foes. I think the European Union is a foe, what they do to us in trade.
Now, you wouldn't think of the European Union, but they're a foe. Russia is a foe in certain respects. China is a foe economically, certainly. They're a foe. But that doesn't mean they're bad. It doesn't mean anything.
TAPPER: Welcome back to STATE OF THE UNION. I'm Jake Tapper in Helsinki.
That was President Trump in an interview that aired this morning on CBS comparing the European Union to Russia and China in terms of all three of them being foes of the United States.
And, David Gergen, I want to start with you.
Donald Tusk, the president of the European Union, tweeted -- one assumes in response to that interview -- saying: "America and the E.U., European Union, are best friends. Whoever says we are foes is spreading fake news."
GERGEN: He really sort of poked him, doesn't he, take a crack at him?
GERGEN: Look, I -- in defense of President Trump, he was talking about trade when he -- but when you ask for the United States, who are your foe -- who are the foes of your country, the first thing that pops in your head is Europe, we're in a very strange, upside-down world.
I don't know any president in the last 100 years who sort of would make that kind of argument. So I -- and I think that it's not surprising that the Europeans would snap back at it.
In the play "Hamilton," Burr tells Hamilton -- give him -- talk less, smile more.
GERGEN: The president might want to listen to that.
TAPPER: What do you make of this? What are you hearing from European allies, who are already concerned about President Trump's undermining, in their view, of NATO and the E.U. and embrace of Vladimir Putin and Russia?
It plays exactly into the worst-case scenario that Europeans and many people in Washington were thinking this week, the idea that the president of the United States would come to Europe, spend his time attacking America's allies, while going on to have a friendly summit with someone who is an adversary.
And by the way, the European Union is not a foe, even on trade. They're America's largest trading partners. And the idea that Trump sees enemies behind every tree and under every stone, it's very interesting, to me, the emergence of Donald Tusk, European bureaucrat, technocrat, as this sort of like tweet troller in chi...
A few weeks ago, during the G7, when Trump was also attacking allies like Justin Trudeau, it was Tusk here who tweeted back then as well, also tweaking at the president. I believe he tweeted out, with friends like these, dot, dot, dot, you know?
Something else President Trump did this morning that I -- caught my eye, was President Trump, in a tweetstorm, talking about his trip called the news media -- quote -- "much of our news media is indeed the enemy of the people." Mr. Kirby, on the eve of a summit with Vladimir Putin, who thinks that his news media are th...
We would normally just get so immune to this, because we've heard him say this all the time. But you're exactly right, Jake. You got to put this in context. He is going to be with Vladimir Putin tomorrow, who really does believe a free press is an enemy of him and his system and the people.
And I think it's just music to Putin's ears now. It's just one more indication -- to piggyback on what Susan was saying, it just more indication of how he's kowtowing to Putin's talking points throughout this whole process and making it very, very comfortable for Vladimir Putin tomorrow.
I think if you look at what the president state over the first 18 months of his administration, you see the comments about the European Union, and contrast those to positive comments.
Who does he make positive comments about? That's people in the Philippines. As you know, that's a vicious regime that is now in the Philippines. The Turkish leadership, the Egyptian leadership, which is -- which has transitioned into virtually a military dictatorship.
You look at Xi in China, and you look at Putin. They have characteristics in common. They sideline political opponents and they attack the press.
I think the president, when he characterizes himself as a genius, is really saying, I believe I should have an authoritarian hand in running government, because when you have the press or Democrats opposing me, they're opposing a genius. I want what Vladimir Putin has. That's how I read this.
GERGEN: Well, I want to -- I want you change the subject.
On the Twitter, I just -- I'm surprised that the morning of, the day of, he's going into the most important meeting he has had of his presidency, and he's spending a lot of time on Twitter and he's playing golf.
You know, most presidents, even presidents who are real pros, spend a lot of time thinking through the 10 or 12 ways a conversation might go, and what do you do if he does this or if he does that, and you sort of do play it out by chess.
To do it impromptu like this, and sort of say and it blow it off, and say, well, I think I will just go play golf, is not -- let's put it this way. It's abnormal.
TAPPER: What is Putin looking for beyond just the fact of this summit? What does he want from President Trump?
GLASSER: Well, you have asked a great question.
I think I, as you pointed out, the fact of the meeting in some ways, as someone put it to me, is the deliverable. Putin wanted to be welcomed back into the international community after his 2014 illegal annexation of Crimea.
There are several other potential issues that could be on the table, whether it is sanctions for that incursion into Ukraine. Syria obviously is something both sides have said they will talk about. The United States is present there. Russia is present there, and acting in concert with Iran and with the Syrian governmen...
Arms control, there's a serious issue, which is, the New START arms control treaty that was negotiated by President Obama is set to expire in 2021. The serious Russia experts, they would like to see some real conversation beginning with Russia and President Putin about extending that treaty.
But I think they fear that, if President Trump hears that it was negotiated by President Obama, that's the end of the New START treaty.
TAPPER: And, John, a lot of people, a lot of Democrats, and even a couple Republicans in Washington said after the indictments on Friday, after 12 Russian military intelligence officials were accused by the Trump administration, the Justice Department, of interfering in the election, a cyber-attack on the United States...
Obviously, he wasn't going to do that. But it is kind of stunning, just taking a step back. We were attacked, as Americans. We were attacked by the Russians in 2016. And President Trump is going to, in a sense, reward Vladimir Putin.
KIRBY: Potentially, yes, if -- if, unless, I should say, he actually goes into this meeting and holds Vladimir Putin to task for it and threatens actual consequences for any election interference and cyber- attacks going forward, if he can be strong in that.
He could actually use the indictment to his advantage, if he wants to get tough on Putin. I don't see that happening.
I agree. I think Putin is looking for some sort of way to show the world that the United States and Russia are cooperating and trying to move forward in a more friendly way, because that also helps Putin's secondary motive, in my view, which is to undermine Western democracies and undermine the international organizati...
TAPPER: And -- but not only is he doing the summit. A year ago -- let's put up that tweet from a year ago this month -- President Trump, after a pull-aside with Vladimir Putin, wrote -- quote -- "Putin I discussed forming an impenetrable cyber-security unit, so that election hacking and many other negative things will ...
That sound like a good idea to you, Phil?
But look at this. Putin has already got what he wanted, and the meeting hasn't even started yet.
If the intention of that interference in the election -- and it wasn't just election interference -- it's an attempt to sort of sow discord among -- within the American population on things like Black Lives Matter -- if the intent was to weaken the Western alliance, we have a week where the president has embarrassed NA...
And now he is coming, saying, the easiest meeting is with Vladimir Putin. Putin got what he wanted. And that is discord in the Western coalition, I think.
I mean, I think Jeff Zeleny was saying earlier today that the most important thing he's got, the deliverable, is having a meeting, because this is something that puts Putin up on the same world stage as Trump.
And it also suggests he's -- the U.S. is saying, let bygones be bygones. Let's move ahead. And that's what we're hearing from a lot of people close to Trump.
TAPPER: That is unless, of course, he challenges Vladimir Putin tomorrow.
TAPPER: And we will see if he does that.
Coming up, flattery, humor, a little mano a mano workout talk? What's the right strategy for handling Vladimir Putin? Three former U.S. presidents might have some thoughts.
TAPPER: Welcome back to Helsinki, Finland, where the highly anticipated and hotly debated Trump-Putin summit is less than a day away.
This American president comes here to the Presidential Palace behind me filled with confidence and optimism, and he is hardly the first.
TAPPER (voice-over): President Trump will be the fourth U.S. president to hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
TRUMP: Putin is fine. He's fine. We're all fine. We're people. Will I be prepared? Totally prepared.
TAPPER: So, as President Trump prepares -- or doesn't -- to meet the Russian leader, he should remember that others have been there before him, with very mixed success.
Presidents Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama all tried kicking things off with flattery.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A man deeply committed to his country.
BILL CLINTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think he's fully capable of doing it.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The extraordinary work that you have done on behalf of the Russian people.
TAPPER: In 2001, President George W. Bush took a soulful approach.
BUSH: I looked the man in eye. I was able to get a sense of his soul.
TAPPER: Presidents Bush and Obama both tried to soften the Russian leader by attempting to find common interests.
BUSH: First, I would like to congratulate President Putin for being the only person that caught a fish today.
OBAMA: President Trump's expertise in judo and my declining skills in basketball.
TAPPER: The relationship between U.S. leaders and their Russian counterparts has been warm in the past.
BORIS YELTSIN, RUSSIAN POSSIBLE (through translator): Well, now for, the first time, I can tell you that you're a disaster.
TAPPER: Still, American presidents have taken note of the former KGB agent's somewhat unique negotiating technique.
BUSH: Putin says, "Would you like to meet my dog?"
And out comes a giant hound kind of loping across the birch-lined yard. And Putin looks at me, and he says, "Bigger, stronger and faster than Barney."
TAPPER: And with some Putin officials, the language barrier has led to some awkward diplomacy.
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We worked hard to get the right Russian word. Do think we got it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You get it wrong.
H. CLINTON: I got it wrong.
TAPPER: Still, if there's one thing we know about President Trump, he will do it his own way.
TRUMP: Putin may be the easiest of them all. Who would think? Who would think?
TAPPER: Coming up next, Fareed Zakaria previews the Trump-Putin summit with a journalist who interviewed Putin last year.
Patrons of a Rastrick pub had a narrow escape when a van came crashing through the beer garden wall.
Landlord Steven Ingle has CCTV cameras outside the building and managed to catch it all on camera as the white Iveco long wheel based van failed to turn a corner and came straight at the wall outside the Junction Inn, on Ogden Lane, hitting a BT box first.
Fortunately many customers were inside the building when the accident happened on Easter Monday just before midnight, apart from one customer who was outside the front of the pub having a cigarette and was just a few metres away.
“The first we knew of it was that we heard like a crunching sound,” said Mr Ingle. “I went to go out to the beer garden to see what it was and found I couldn’t open the door.
“I went out the front door and couldn’t believe what I saw. I think that if the driver hadn’t hit the BT box first his vehicle would have most definitely come further into the garden and done a lot more damage.
“My customers were lucky as on the Saturday and Sunday with the lovely weather the garden was busy and so was Monday, but after a certain time we ask everyone to come inside. We had been test running the barbecue in preparation for St George’s Day, as I am planning to have a big barbecue a couple of days later on the 2...