Eli Lake, Columnist

Trump’s Helsinki Disgrace

The president sees good nations on both sides of the U.S.-Russia relationship.

July 16, 2018 at 7:45 PM UTC

Corrected

July 17, 2018 at 10:11 PM UTC

Eli Lake is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering national security and foreign policy. He was the senior national security correspondent for the Daily Beast and covered national security and intelligence for the Washington Times, the New York Sun and UPI.

Beware Russians bearing gifts.
Photographer: Chris McGrath/Getty Images Europe

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Nearly a year after Donald Trump crippled his presidency by saying there was “blame on both sides” after a scrum between white nationalists and anti-racist protesters in Virginia, he has created another Charlottesville moment. This time it was on the world stage.

Trump’s 40-minute press conference on Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin was an exercise in nauseating moral equivalency. In Trump’s view, there are good nations on both sides.