Trump-related headlines this week focused on Trump's conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on Monday, July 16.
The meeting with Putin capped Trump's week-long European tour, which included the NATO summit in Brussels. Trump used the NATO conference as an opportunity to publicly criticize US allies for what he deems as their insufficient contribution to defense spending.
Before the public press conference, Trump met one-on-one with Putin for two hours, with only a one other American, interpreter Marina Gross, present. The contents of this conversation have not been made public despite calls from some representatives in Congress to have the interpreter testify. Given the code of ethics for interpreters - similar to attorney-client privilege - the interpreter could not testify unless Trump gave her permission to do so, which seems unlikely.
After the private meeting, Trump and Putin gave a public press conference, during which Trump questioned whether Russia had any involvement in the 2016 election, which Putin has denied despite Mueller's indictment of 12 Russians. When asked if he believes the American intelligence community or Putin, Trump refused to answer, instead prevaricating by saying, "They think it's Russia. I have President Putin - he just said it's not Russia. I don't see any reason why it would be." Trump then again shifted the conversation away from Russia to blame the Democratic party.
This marks the first time that the division between the President and American national security agencies has been so public and so marked. Some have argued that Trump's behavior at the conference amounts to treason.
In the days after the conference, Trump responded to criticism by backpedaling, disputing reports of what was said, and acknowledging that he "misspoke." But he also was not especially contrite, and appears to be willing to solidify ties with Russia further, even inviting Putin to visit Washington in the fall.
Meanwhile, news broke that the FBI is in possession of recordings that Michael Cohen made of his conversations with Trump. Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani said that the recordings mainly consist of Trump and Cohen discussing payments to be made to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, with whom Trump allegedly had an affair in the 2000s. Trump's attorneys have apparently reviewed the recording and do not believe it poses a legal problem for the President; still, it speaks somewhat to the lengths to which Trump was willing to go to prevent any information about his alleged affairs from leaking to the public prior to his election. The FBI seized the recording as part of its raid on Cohen's office earlier this year. Trump lashed out at Cohen on Twitter in response to the news of the recording, which was apparently made without his knowledge.
Finally, Trump also criticized the Fed for raising interest rates, which he says have hurt America's ability to compete economically with China. For a president to critique the Fed - an independent financial institution - is unprecedented. Trump's comments were also inconsistent with earlier comments he made supporting higher interest rates.