Trump won’t be sitting down with Putin this year after all. He’s delayed the next summit with Putin until 2019:
Amb. Bolton statement on Putin meeting at W.H. (via pool): "The President believes that the next bilateral meeting with President Putin should take place after the Russia witch hunt is over, so we've agreed that it will be after the first of the year."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 25, 2018
WASHINGTON (AP) - White House: Trump delaying proposed next meeting with Russia's Putin until 2019, citing Mueller probe.
— WBAY-TV 2 (@WBAY) July 25, 2018
By delaying this summit, what Trump is really doing is setting a deadline for when this Mueller probe should end. I don’t think he’s set an exact date, but I would expect the summit to fall sometime in the first quarter of 2019, meaning he’s putting Mueller on the clock.
So what if the probe isn’t over by then? Will he end it himself?
I also think it’s safe to assume he’s delaying this summit to potentially avoiding any more issues that might hurt Republicans this year in the elections.