It appears the president's aides and key State Department officials were blindsided by Trump's suggestion he and Putin possibly meet at the White House.
WASHINGTON — Once again, the world has learne
d about an important overture by President Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin from a Kremlin adviser, not the White House. On Monday morning, an aide to Putin said Trump had invited the Russian president to the White House when the two men spoke last month.
It is a pattern that has been repeated regularly since the public first learned about Trump's controversial meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and then-Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak from Tass last May.
Why does this matter?
In each case, Putin was able to put the Kremlin's spin on events before the White House could, and, in many instances, Trump's national security team has appeared to be caught off-balance.