Putin Is a ‘Competitor,’ Not a Foe, Trump Says Ahead of Summit
- Comment comes amid probe of Russian election interference
- Senate Democratic leader says he fears face-to-face meeting
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U.S. President Donald Trump declined to brand his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as friend or foe ahead of the first full-fledged one-on-one summit between the two in Helsinki next week.
"I really can’t say right now. As far as I’m concerned, he’s a competitor," Trump told reporters as he departed the White House for a European tour that will also include potentially tense meetings with leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and his first visit to the U.K. as president.