Trump arrives in Finland to closely follow Putin's summit

HELSINKI – President Donald Trump arrived Sunday in Finland for a one-on-one summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a few hours after telling an interviewer that he was going to the meeting on Monday with "low expectations".

On the way to meeting a leader who suppressed the press in his country, Trump tweeted that the US media is "the enemy of the people" and complained that "no matter how I did at the Summit "" He will face "criticism that it was not good enough. "

Trump also said in the interview that he had not thought of asking Putin to extradite the dozen Russian military policemen accused last week on charges related to the hacking Democratic targets in the 2016 US presidential election.

But after receiving the idea of ​​his interviewer, Trump said "certainly, I'll ask questions about it," although extradition is unlikely.The US has no extradition treaty with Moscow and can not force the Russians to surrender their citizens.Russian Constitution also prohibits surrender of citizens to foreign governments.

Trump went to Finland, the last stop of a weeklong trip that started last Tuesday from Scotland.He and his wife, Melania, spent the weekend in a golf club that Trump owns in Turnber He was returning to the White House after Monday's meeting with Putin in Helsinki, the Finnish capital.

Near the Trump Hotel, police surrounded a group of about 60 pro-Trump male protesters waving US flags. Large banners announced "Welcome Trump" and "God Bless D & M Trump" and a helicopter hovered above

Songs of "We Love Trump, We Love Trump" burst when the presidential motorcade pbaded and Trump waved his hand . Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, said it would be "rather stupid" for Trump to ask Vladimir Putin to hand over the indicted Russians.

"For the President to ask for something that is not going to happen, President Trump told CBS News that he was going to the summit of Helsinki with" a weak position, and I think the President made it clear that he was considering tackling this discussion from a position of strength ". I do not go with high expectations. "He refused to discuss his goals, but said such sessions were beneficial and cited his historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping." Trump said: 19659005] He described the European Union, a bloc of nations that includes many allies of the United States, as an "enemy", especially on trade.The European Union is an enemy, what They make us in the trade, "said Trump, adding that" you would not think of the European Union, but they are an enemy. "

He said that Russia is an enemy" some regards "and that China is an enemy" economically … but that does not mean that they are bad.He does not mean anything.It means that they are competitive. "Trump has been reluctant to criticize Putin over the years and has described him as a competitor in recent days.

Trump spent Saturday's interview in Scotland and CBS News published excerpts Sunday, just hours before Trump flew to Helsinki. On board Air Force One, Trump has called the US media "enemies of the people" and complained that he would be criticized no matter what. From the summit.

"If I were given the great city of Moscow in retaliation for the sins and evils committed by Russia over the years, I would come back to the criticism that it was not enough – that I would have Must have St. Petersburg in addition! Trump also said: "Much of our media is indeed the enemy of the people."

Putin is believed to have created a culture of violence and impunity that resulted in the murder of some Russian journalists Trump regularly criticizes the American news media and has called some journalists by name

Trump and Putin have had talks twice before, and their first meeting took place last July. that the two attended an international summit and lasted more than two hours, well beyond the scheduled 30 minutes.The leaders also met last fall at a separate summit in Vietnam. 19659005] But Jon Huntsman, the US ambbadador to Russia, said the Monday meeting "is really the first time the two presidents meet to discuss. I hope it is a detailed discussion of areas where we could find shared and shared interests. "

congressional Democrats and at least one Republican have called on Trump to withdraw from Monday's meeting unless he wants to make Russian elections the first problem." Huntsman said the summit should continue because that the commitment of Russia was necessary to solve some international problems.

"The collective blood pressure between the United States and Russia is very high, so it's a good thing. "he said.

Trump said that he will raise the issue of Russian electoral interference, with Syria, Ukraine, nuclear proliferation and other topics. Bolton called the meeting "unstructured" and said, "We are not looking for concrete results here."

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Rejected Bolton's badertion that the charges were putting Trump in a stronger position entering the meeting.

"He already said that he asked Putin to ingest him, Putin told him that he was not doing it, and he believed it," Murphy said. "So that proves that the president of the United States, this president, will sit in front of Putin and insist on the issue of Russian interference."

Putin denied any interference in the elections.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Said that it is inevitable that Russia will intervene in the US elections and that it is useless for Trump to confront Putin.

Paul says that the two countries are spying on but adds that Russian interference in the 2016 elections is not "morally equivalent" to US interference in the Russian elections, but "I think it's in their minds."

Huntsman was interviewed on NBC's "Meet the Press," Paul appeared on CNN's "State of the Union." and Bolton and Murphy spoke about "This Week" from ABC

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Darlene Superville, Associated Press reporter, and Jamey Keaten, Helsinki, contributed to this report