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Slide 1 of 84: U.S. President Donald Trump receives a football from Russian President Vladimir Putin as they hold a joint news conference after their meeting in Helsinki, Finland July 16, 2018.
U.S. President Donald Trump receives a football from Russian President Vladimir Putin as they hold a joint news conference after their meeting in Helsinki, Finland July 16, 2018.
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures during a joint news conference with Russia's President Vladimir Putin after their meeting in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018.
Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures during a joint news conference with U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) after their meeting in Helsinki, Finland July 16, 2018.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin attend a joint press conference after a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, on July 16.
U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and Russia's President Vladimir Putin arrive to attend a joint press conference after a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, on July 16.
Security personnel remove a man from the premises before U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin hold a joint news conference, after their meeting in Helsinki, Finland, July 16.
U.S. President Donald Trump (C) shakes hands with Russia's President Vladimir Putin next to US First Lady Melania Trump (L) ahead of a meeting in Helsinki, on July 16.
U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and Russia's President Vladimir Putin (C) arrive for a meeting at Finland's Presidential Palace on July 16, in Helsinki, Finland.
People depicting U.S. president Donald Trump attend a protest at Senate Square to support women's reproductive rights, during the summit in Helsinki, Finland on July 16.
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto (left) and President Trump sit down for a working breakfast at Niinisto's official residence in Helsinki, Finland on July 16.
(From left to right) Jenni Haukio, wife of Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, first lady Melania Trump, President Trump and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, pose for a photograph at Niinisto's official residence in Helsinki, Finland on July 16.
President Trump and first lady Melania Trump are greeted by Frank Pence (second from the left), U.S. ambassador to Finland and his wife Suzy Pence, upon their arrival at the airport in Helsinki, Finland on July 15.
Scotland United Against Trump demonstrators gather at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on July 14 before marching through the city to protest against the president's visit.
Donald and Melania Trump arrive at the Trump Turnberry resort on July 13 in South Ayrshire, Scotland, where they are expected to stay over the weekend.
A Greenpeace protester flying a microlight passes over Donald Trump's resort on July 13 in Turnberry, South Ayrshire, Scotland, with a banner reading "Trump: Well Below Par", shortly after the U.S. president arrived at the hotel.
U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump listen to the Coldstream Guards, play the U.S. national anthem, with Queen Elizabeth, during a visit to Windsor Castle on July 13 in Windsor, Britain.
President Donald Trump (left) and Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May shake hands at a press conference following their meeting at Chequers, the prime minister's country residence, near Ellesborough, northwest of London on July 13 on the second day of Trump's U.K. visit.
First lady Melania Trump accompanied by Philip May, meets schoolchildren and British Army veterans, known as Chelsea Pensioners, at Royal Hospital Chelsea on July 13 in London.
Prime Minister Theresa May and U.S. President Donald Trump attend a joint press conference following their meeting at Chequers on July 13 in Aylesbury, England.
U.S. President Donald Trump (R) and Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May (L) shake hands upon Trump's arrival for a meeting at Chequers, the prime minister's country residence, near Ellesborough, northwest of London on July 13 on the second day of Trump's U.K. visit.
U.S. first lady Melania Trump (second from left) and the British prime minister's husband Philip May (left) stand with school-children waving flags during a visit to the Royal Chelsea Hospital in London on July 13 on the second day of the U.S. president and first lady's visit to the U.K.
Protesters gather near Portland Place in London, as they prepare to take part in a 'Stop Trump' demonstration, on July 13 in London as part of the protests against the visit of U.S. President Donald Trump to the U.K.
U.S. Marine helicopters (ringed), which are used by the presidential entourage, pass the 'Baby Trump' balloon as it rises after being inflated in London's Parliament Square, as part of the protests against the visit of US President Donald Trump to the UK.
U.S. President Donald Trump leaves Winfield House, residence of the U.S. Ambassador Woody Johnson (left) before boarding Marine One helicopter for the flight to Chequers, in Buckinghamshire, on July 13 in London. Trump's day in London will start with a viewing of a military demonstration before he heads to meetings with British Prime Minister Theresa May at Chequers, May's county house.
Theresa May and her husband, Philip, stand together with Donald Trump and Melania Trump at the entrance to Blenheim Palace, where they are attending a dinner with specially invited guests and business leaders on July 12, near Oxford, Britain.
Guests await the arrival at Blenheim Palace of the U.S. President and the first lady Melania Trump who are attending a dinner with Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May and business leaders on July 12, near Oxford, Britain.
A demonstrator protests next to the specially erected fence surrounding the U.S. ambassador's residence, Winfield House, where U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are staying, on July 12, in London.
Donald Trump and Melania Trump leave the U.S. ambassador's residence, Winfield House, where they are staying, on their way to Blenheim Palace for dinner with Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May and business leaders on July 12, in London.
Donald Trump and Melania Trump walk across the tarmac after stepping off Air Force One as they arrive at London's Stansted Airport, on July 12. Walking directly behind them is Woody Johnson, center, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Human rights group Amnesty International drop a banner from Vauxhall Bridge opposite the U.S. Embassy protesting against U.S. President Donald Trump's visit to the United Kingdom on July 12.
U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions from the media during a news conference after participating in the NATO Summit in Brussels, Belgium July 12.
(From L to R, first row) German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May attend the opening ceremony at the 2018 NATO Summit at NATO headquarters on July 11 in Brussels, Belgium.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (extreme left) looks on as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to other leaders as they pose for a family photo during the NATO Summit on July 11 in Brussels, Belgium.
U.S. President Donald Trump kisses France's first lady Brigitte Macron as U.S. first lady Melania Trump looks on while they pose for a family photo during the NATO Summit on July 11 in Brussels, Belgium.
Croatia President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic and U.S. President Donald Trump give a thumbs up at the start of a dinner at the Art and History Museum during the NATO Summit on July 11 in Brussels, Belgium.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, his partner Amelie Derbaudrenghien, Melania Trump, the first lady of the U.S. and U.S. President Donald Trump arrive for a dinner during the NATO Summit on July 11 in Brussels, Belgium.
U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump and Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas (right) and his wife Karin Ratas arrive for a working dinner during the NATO Summit on July 11 in Brussels, Belgium.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, United States President Donald J. Trump , British Prime Minister Theresa May, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and other NATO heads of state pose for a family photo during the 2018 NATO Summit at NATO headquarters on July 11 in Brussels, Belgium.
U.S. President Donald Trump poses with Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May as NATO leaders gather for a family photo ahead of the opening ceremony for the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) summit at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on July 11.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L), British Prime Minister Theresa May (C) and U.S. President Donald Trump attend the 2018 NATO Summit at NATO headquarters on July 11 in Brussels, Belgium.
U.S. first lady Melania Trump and France's first lady Brigitte Macron, Sweden Prime Minister's spouse Ulla Lofven, Belgian Prime Minister's partner Amelie Derbaudrenghien, Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar's partner, Mojca Stropnik, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev's partner Desislava Radeva, Turkey's first lady Emine Erdogan, Jens Stoltenberg's spouse Ingrid Schulerud, European Council President Donald Tusk's wife Malgorzata Sochacka, and Luxemburg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel's husband, Gauthier Destenay, pose for a picture after attending a concert at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo, Belgium on July 11.
U.S. President Donald Trump holds a breakfast meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (left) at the NATO Summit on July 11 in Brussels, Belgium.
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures during a press conference prior to his bilateral breakfast with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on July 11 in Brussels, Belgium.
U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump greet U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison and U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Ronald J. Gidwitz as they arrive ahead of the NATO Summit, on July 10 in Melsbroek, Belgium.
U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump alight from Air Force One ahead of the NATO Summit on July 10 in Melsbroek, Belgium.
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Slideshow by photo services
For as long as history remembers Donald Trump, it will be a day that will live in infamy.
The President's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday is already one of the most notorious moments in the tortured relations between Washington and Moscow.
Trump's humiliation is taking its place alongside John Kennedy's bruising at the hands of Nikita Khrushchev, and George W. Bush staring into Putin's eyes and getting a sense of his soul.
Like those moments in US-Russia summit lore, the events that unfolded Monday are likely to have significant and unpredictable political and geopolitical reverberations in the United States and around the world.
Trump's favoring of Putin's denial of election interference accusations leveled by the US intelligence community was not just the most abject display given by any President overseas, it may be the moment that finally validated claims that Trump prizes his own interests above those of America.
The most obvious question -- why did Trump cave so spectacularly to Putin -- is likely to remain cloudy going forward, at least unless special counsel Robert Mueller finds evidence the President is beholden to the Russian leader.
But there are going to be profound consequences in Washington and beyond.
Here is what may happen next.
UP NEXT
Trump WILL fight back
In 1961, Kennedy emerged from a roughing up by Soviet leader Khrushchev in Vienna and admitted to James Reston of The New York Times that their meeting had been the worst thing in his life.
It's no surprise that Trump showed no similar self-awareness in a sympathetic interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News on Monday, but Kennedy's description of his humiliation would be a good summation of the 45th President's encounter with Putin.
Objectively, Trump has emerged from the summit a diminished figure.
He looked weak. He was obsequious to the stone-faced Russian leader and came across as unprepared and outmatched. He looked as far as it is possible to be from his own self-image as a bullying tough-as-nails dealmaker, the man who boasted at the Republican National Convention in 2016 that "I alone can fix it."
The myth of Trump as an American strongman may never recover.
It is already clear that the summit is a short-term political disaster for Trump. For a man who jealously guards his image, the mockery will sting and will provoke a backlash.
Top Republicans like House Speaker Paul Ryan, who normally don't criticize him, put distance between themselves and Trump.
"The President must appreciate that Russia is not our ally, there is no moral equivalence between the United States and Russia," Ryan said in a written statement.
Even Newt Gingrich, a Trump supporter, rediscovered his roots as an old Cold Warrior.
"President Trump must clarify his statements in Helsinki on our intelligence system and Putin. It is the most serious mistake of his presidency and must be corrected -- immediately," Gingrich tweeted.
Trump tried to clean up his mess in tweets as he flew home across the Atlantic.
"As I said today and many times before, 'I have GREAT confidence in MY intelligence people,'" he wrote. "However, I also recognize that in order to build a brighter future, we cannot exclusively focus on the past -- as the world's two largest nuclear powers, we must get along!"
A normal President might rethink his approach to leadership.
It was his hubris and desire to be unchained from his staff that led him to meet Putin alone for nearly two hours in Helsinki -- fueling rumors that he is under the Russian leader's spell. His claim that he was ready for what would be the "easier" leg of his European tour now looks damning. Trump's confidence that he can wing it through international summits ought to be in tatters -- given his failure in Finland and the ballyhooed summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore last month, where the President also seemed outmaneuvered.
More likely, Trump will double down and change the subject. When he's in a corner, he fights back. Twitter may catch fire on Tuesday.
What will the West do now?
Trump is supposed to be the leader of the free world. But such men don't kowtow to Russian dictators.
Trump's performance on Monday followed his blitzkrieg through Europe, in which he split the transatlantic alliance, and insulted allied leaders like Germany's Angela Merkel and Britain's Theresa May -- effectively doing Putin's work for him.
The debacle in Finland was exactly what America's friends feared before Trump even left Europe, and it is already beginning to shape their calculations going forward.
"We can no longer completely rely on the White House," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told the Funke newspaper group, according to Reuters.
"To maintain our partnership with the USA we must readjust it."
Despite Trump's trolling of US allies over defense spending, the NATO summit last week did take steps to bolster transatlantic defenses and rapid reaction forces. Yet in an alliance built on the principle that an attack on one is an attack on all, the symbolic leadership of the US President is an existential issue. Europe is increasingly nervous.
So it is significant that Maas used the words "White House" rather than the United States -- because it reflects how Europeans are increasingly looking for ways to engage Washington through other centers of power rather than through the capricious President.
Beneath the uproar of Trump's disruptive blast through Europe, strong links remain between the military, business, intelligence agencies and civil society groups on either side of the Atlantic.
Those may be crucial to riding out the Trump storm.
Nicholas Dungan, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council who teaches at the prestigious French research university Sciences Po, said it was time for America's friends in Europe and for the US leadership class -- political figures, CEOs, heads of think tanks and universities -- to take action.
"Stop wringing your hands ... get your act together and start doing things that are going to repair the situation, rather than just sitting around and talking about how bad the situation is with Trump," he said.
Dungan argued that America's friends -- like French President Emmanuel Macron, Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe -- need to adopt a dual track approach:
"You need two different policies. You need one policy to the individual Donald Trump, because it's clear that he doesn't make the distinction between himself and his office. You need another policy toward the United States of America."
That searing experience nurtured a fierce grievance against the United States, the victor in the Cold War, and a political career dedicated to the reversal of Moscow's humiliation.
By so comprehensively outpointing the American President in full view of the world -- and the viewers back home on state television in Russia -- Putin engineered a full circle moment.
"Vladimir Putin pitched a shutout. Trump got beat up in the locker room," retired Lt. Col. Ralph Peters, a former Fox News analyst, told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Monday, calling the US leader a "disgrace" to the country and the presidency.
US intelligence experts said Putin will take one message from Monday's events: that Trump is weak and there is no price to be paid for warping US democracy.
"The President missed a prime opportunity to confront Putin face-to-face and assert with some level of forcefulness that we know that you did this and here's what we are going to do if you don't stop," said Richard Ledgett, a former deputy director of the National Security Agency.
The fear now is that Putin will interpret Trump's solicitous showing in Helsinki as an incentive to come back for more -- to try to manipulate the midterm elections in November, or in 2020 with an updated version of the Russian hacking and interference assault that occurred in 2016.
A choice for GOP, Cabinet members, White House staff
Trump's disaster in Helsinki left everyone who works for him, or supports him, with a choice.
Does it matter that the President refused to stand up for America abroad and chose to align himself with the global political figure who is most hostile to American power, values and historic achievements?
The first officials in the hot seat are the chieftains of the intelligence services, including Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, who was personally repudiated by the President in the news conference. Coats had just said last week that the "warning lights are blinking red again" over possible Russian interference in the midterms.
"We have been clear in our assessments of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and their ongoing, pervasive efforts to undermine our democracy," Coats said in a statement after the summit.
But Trump's behavior raises questions about how top intelligence officials can remain in their posts after being so spectacularly thrown under the bus.
After the White House and State Department went dark Monday, unable to explain Trump's performance, senior officials are also likely to engage in fresh soul searching.
Monday's events train new scrutiny on top Republicans, who will come under renewed pressure to rein in their President. But this time, as after every previous outrage, it seems unlikely they will take on the political base that never deserts Trump.
"Today's performance by the President should be a signal to many of those people that it's time to perhaps say publicly what you say privately in the parlors and restaurants of Washington," Larry Pfeiffer, the senior director of the Situation Room in the Obama administration, who also served in the CIA under President George W. Bush, said on CNN.
"Even a small dog can piss on a tall building" Jim Hightower
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