Donald Trump invites Vladimir Putin to Washington
Senior intelligence staff caught off-guard by invitation to Russian president

Donald Trump will invite Vladimir Putin to visit Washington this autumn after the pair’s recent meeting in Helsinki, The White House has announced.
News of the invitation “stunned the nation’s top intelligence official”, Dan Coats, The New York Times reports. He first learned of the plan while being interviewed by NBC News at the Aspen Security Forum.
“Say that again… Did I hear you?” Coats said when the interviewer broke the news. “OK… That’s going to be special.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Coats, who is US director of national intelligence, has expressed misgivings about meetings between Trump and Putin, reports The Washington Post. He was concerned about the Helsinki summit because “no notes were taken and only two interpreters were present”, the paper says.
Preparations for the autumn meeting are “already underway”, according to CNN, after Trump told John Bolton, his national security adviser, to begin making arrangements.
Democrats have seized on the idea of having Putin visit Washington in the run-up to the mid-term elections in November. “Late October would be great for us,” Democratic Senator Brian Schatz tweeted.
No deal
Yesterday Trump rejected a request by Putin to let Russia interrogate several US citizens accused of unspecified crimes, including the former US ambassador to Moscow, Michael McFaul.
Putin had reportedly floated the idea with Trump as part of a deal in which US authorities could have interrogated 12 Russian operatives indicted last week as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
Senior Republicans has expressed dismay that Trump would even consider the deal.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'There is a lot riding on the deal for both sides'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Pharaoh's tomb discovered for first time in 100 years
Speed Read This is the first burial chamber of a pharaoh unearthed since Tutankhamun in 1922
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Microsoft unveils quantum computing breakthrough
Speed Read Researchers say this advance could lead to faster and more powerful computers
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump seeks to end New York's congestion pricing
Speed Read The MTA quickly filed a lawsuit to stop the move
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Who is actually running DOGE?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The White House said in a court filing that Elon Musk isn't the official head of Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency task force, raising questions about just who is overseeing DOGE's federal blitzkrieg
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump officials try to reverse DOGE-led firings
Speed Read Mass firings by Elon Musk's team have included employees working on the H5N1 bird flu epidemic and US nuclear weapons programs
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump blames Ukraine for war after US-Russia talks
Speed Read The US and Russia have agreed to work together on ending the Ukraine war — but President Trump has flipped America's approach
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
What will the thaw in Russia-US relations cost Europe?
Today's Big Question US determination to strike a deal with Russia over Ukraine means Europe faces 'betrayal by a long-term ally'
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
The end of empathy
Opinion Elon Musk is gutting the government — and our capacity for kindness
By Theunis Bates Published
-
What is Donald Trump's net worth?
In Depth Separating fact from fiction regarding the president's finances is harder than it seems
By David Faris Published
-
How will Keir Starmer pay for greater defence spending?
Today's Big Question Funding for courts, prisons, local government and the environment could all be at risk
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published