It’s hard to avoid hyberbole when it comes to Donald Trump. The President himself constantly engages in braggadocio about the biggest this or the worst that. He lives in a world of extremes and, therefore, the way that he is covered tends to favors the extremes as well.
And yet, it’s very hard to look at this past week and not see it as the worst one of Trump’s 18 months – to the day! – in office.
The week began with Trump’s disastrous press conference in Helsinki with Russian president Vladimir Putin in which he sought to cast the Russian interference in the 2016 election as at least partly America’s fault.
Tuesday was consumed by the debate over whether Trump meant “would” or “wouldn’t” in regard to Russia meddling.
The White House spent Wednesday walking back Trump’s assertion early in the day that Russia was no longer targeting the US.
Thursday brought the news that Trump had invited Putin to a second summit in Washington this fall – an announcement that surprised at least one person: Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats.
Then, today, we learned that Michael Cohen, the President’s longtime fixer, secretly taped a conversation with Trump regarding a possible payout to a former Playmate alleging she had an affair with Trump in the mid-2000s.
A disastrous week – from beginning to end. Even by Trumpian standards. Below, the week as told through 24 major headlines.
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
- Trump keeps up defense of Helsinki performance
- Trump says ‘no rush’ on North Korea nuclear negotiations
- Trump now says he holds Putin responsible for election interference
- Sanders disputes that Trump said Russia no longer targeting US
- White House reveals range of topics for Trump-Putin meeting
- WH entertaining Russian proposal to interrogate Americans
- Trump’s military parade expected to cost nearly as much as ‘tremendously expensive’ canceled war games
Thursday:
- Trump inviting Putin to Washington this fall
- Trump was briefed on Putin’s involvement in 2016 election
- US spy chief doesn’t know what happened in Trump-Putin meeting
- WH says Trump ‘disagrees’ with suggestion to interrogate Americans
- Giuliani says Trump open to resisting wide-ranging Mueller interview
- Interior Secretary Zinke kept some meetings off public calendar
Friday:
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