Trump isn't ruling out inviting Putin to the White House someday
While en route to Paris on Air Force One, President Trump told reporters that he would be open to inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin to the White House someday. "I don't think this is the right time, but the answer is yes I would," Trump said.
He admitted that it would be "very easy" to say he "absolutely" would not, but argued that's "the stupid thing to do." "If you don't have dialogue, you have to be fools. Fools," Trump said. "It would be the easiest thing for me to say ... I will never speak to him, and everybody would love me. But I have to do what's right."
During his chat with reporters, Trump also continued to express hesitancy toward blaming Russia for hacking the U.S. presidential election. "I'm not saying it wasn't Russia. What I'm saying is that we have to protect ourselves no matter who it is," Trump said, noting that China and North Korea are also "very good at this."
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.
Trump asked Putin twice during their meeting last week whether Russia meddled in the U.S. election, to which Putin twice insisted that Russia did not interfere. Trump shrugged when reporters asked why he didn't further press Putin on the matter. "What do you do?" Trump said. "End up in a fistfight with somebody?"
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Is the job market frozen or faltering?Today's Big Question Layoffs raise alarms while young workers eye law school
-
Pentagon unable to name boat strike casualtiesSpeed Read The Pentagon has so far acknowledged 14 strikes
-
41 political cartoons for October 2025Cartoons Editorial cartoonists take on Donald Trump, ICE, Stephen Miller, the government shutdown, a peace plan in the Middle East, Jeffrey Epstein, and more.
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations