It is amazing to me that Trump has been able to accomplish so much worthwhile in the face of Congressional, NeverTrump and MSM opposition and outright hostility. It is true that Trump has a tin ear for diplomacy, but what has diplomacy done to get NATO members to meet their obligations? It is unfortunate that Trump made a gaffe on stage with Putin, but who hasn't misspoken, or tangled up a sentence once in a while, especially under pressure? I rate plain speaking above the circumlocutions and hypocrisy of the usual "polished" politician anyway.

It is interesting that many people judge, even prejudge, or simply repeat what others have said about Trump, not for his accomplishments, but for his past and present foibles such as his tweets, and for his leadership against the darker sides of our government. If one rates Trump for his accomplishments, though, he shines, and if one waits for another year or so before making a decision to vote him into a second term or not, there may well be tremendous reasons to change one's mind in his favor.

Rick Newman

Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016 in part because voters perceived his opponent, Hillary Clinton, to be a dishonest, self-dealing phony.

Trump has now pulled off the improbable: He makes Hillary Clinton and her husband Bill look like ethical exemplars, compared with the corruption endemic in Trump’s administration.

Whatever you think of Trump, there was legitimacy to his call, back in 2016, to “drain the swamp” and bring fresh blood to Washington. Team Clinton, it turned out, was the perfect foil for Trump, thanks to Hillary Clinton’s six-figure Wall Street speech-making, her shifty explanations for violating government policy by using a private email server, and the money flowing into the Clinton Foundation from shady deal-makers undoubtedly hoping for favors once Hillary ascended to the White House.

How quaint those Clinton controversies seem, compared with the Trump presidency.

Trump’s knifing of American law-enforcement agencies, while on a podium at the Helsinki “summit” with American enemy Vladimir Putin, visibly raised the possibility that Trump might sell out his own country to appease a ruthless dictator who at this moment is working to manipulate the upcoming U.S. elections. Trump is now going even further to aid Russian attacks against the United States, by saying Russia is no longer targeting U.S. elections. Intelligence officials contradict Trump and say Russia is still at it. The president of the United States is defending a foreign government that’s attacking the United States. Right now.

Before Trump’s capitulation to Putin, the president deserved the benefit of the doubt from rational observers on the question of Russian aid for his 2016 campaign, because there was no public evidence that Trump knowingly solicited or accepted any Russian help. But Trump’s defense of Putin is now evidence in itself. What does Putin have on Trump that would compel the American president to turn on his own country? Everybody wants to know, as Trump might say.

It’s now undeniably clear that Trump puts self above country, self above party and self above voter. Is Trump’s alliance with Putin an act of self-preservation? Is it personal opportunism? Is Trump doing Putin a favor in exchange for return favors? We don’t know, yet, but if there’s a trail of illegal Russian money in the Trump presidential campaign, or in Trump’s far-flung business empire, it’s likely that special prosecutor Robert Mueller knows about it, which means the public will, eventually. It’s now obvious why Trump has been trying for months to torpedo Mueller’s investigation, even though Trump claims to have done nothing wrong: If anybody knows the real reason Trump fawns over Putin, it’s Mueller.

Americans expect politicians to be self-serving. Trump doesn’t disappoint. But if you voted for Trump as a repudiation of Billary-style greasiness, you got duped. Team Trump is abusing its power in ways Hillary Clinton couldn’t even dream of – perhaps even to cover up crimes by the man elected to run it.

Then there are the more routine forms of corruption. Three Trump Cabinet members have resigned, so far, for abusing the perks of office. Former EPA commissioner Scott Pruitt stayed on the job for months after a vast pattern of grifting emerged, as if Trump saw no problem and was simply waiting for the flap to die down. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, meanwhile, has violated government stock-ownership rules meant to prevent top officials from benefiting from their own policy decisions. It might be an honest mistake, but there’s so much mendacity in the Trump administration that it is time to presume guilt rather than innocence.

Boy Wonder Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and White House factotum, has violated government ethics guidelines by retaining ownership in his family’s real-estate company while working for the government. There’s some evidence Kushner’s privately owned company has already enjoyed favored treatment from lenders and other business partners because of Kushner’s newfound access to power. Kushner had no experience in government before Trump became president, and he’s only at the White House because he fulfills Trump’s loyalty requirement. Competence and capabilities are irrelevant.

The Treasury Department just changed disclosure rules for some political groups in a way that will allow more rich donors to contribute anonymously to organizations that lobby for favored candidates and causes. Just what America needs: more opportunities for powerful people, including foreigners, to secretly manipulate U.S. elections. There’s much more, including unqualified companies getting government business because of personal friendships with Trump officials.

Trump has Clintonized the White House, and gone much further. He certainly matches Bill Clinton’s sneaky infidelity, with his porn-star affairs and secret hush payments. Hillary Clinton alienated voters by, among other things, shirking responsibility for her mistakes and rarely taking the blame for anything gone wrong. But she was an amateur compared with Trump, who lies every day, calls his own statements “fake news” and now courts a dictator associated with numerous assassinations. Even the Clinton Foundation, which took money from every opportunist hoping to get an audience with a Clinton, didn’t stoop that low.

This isn’t a defense of Hillary Clinton. She lost the 2016 election because of her own arrogance and mistakes. But it’s time for those who thought they were getting something better, in Trump, to realize they were wrong.

It is amazing to me that Trump has been able to accomplish so much worthwhile in the face of Congressional, NeverTrump and MSM opposition and outright hostility. It is true that Trump has a tin ear for diplomacy, but what has diplomacy done to get NATO members to meet their obligations? It is unfortunate that Trump made a gaffe on stage with Putin, but who hasn't misspoken, or tangled up a sentence once in a while, especially under pressure? I rate plain speaking above the circumlocutions and hypocrisy of the usual "polished" politician anyway.

It is interesting that many people judge, even prejudge, or simply repeat what others have said about Trump, not for his accomplishments, but for his past and present foibles such as his tweets, and for his leadership against the darker sides of our government. If one rates Trump for his accomplishments, though, he shines, and if one waits for another year or so before making a decision to vote him into a second term or not, there may well be tremendous reasons to change one's mind in his favor.

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I must add that for a short period of time president Trump has achieved so much. But MSM's ignored and recognized none on all his achievements.

Instead they vilified and tormented him so much that no other presidents had experienced the near death sentence being relentlessly tortured by NYT , Time Magazine, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC almost on a daily basis. They displayed the president's picture as dead. This must be illegal. I think the authorities must arrest those news outlets doing this.

The economy is booming. The GDP is almost 4%. Our national security is at its highest. On the contrary, liberals want the opposite of this. Democrats, liberals and socialist want to remove the ICE. ICE is one of the most important agencies that protect the American people from all kinds of terror whether committed by Radical Islam or illegal aliens. One of the duties sworn into by the president is protecting the constitution, and protecting the American people. But Socialists want to remove ICE, with open borders, when they take over power.

The president has sacrificed his life and dignity for the sake of saving our country and the American people. I think he is a hero on this matter.

NATO summit was one of the well-accomplished tasks of president Trump. He asserted his authority requiring all members to comply with the agreement that they had breached for many years. He displayed excellent leadership for that.

I look at the results of Helsinki summit as positive. Further discussion is necessary to resolve various issues.

I think inviting PM Putin to the US this Fall Season is a very good idea.
They need to discuss various issues:
Stop Cyber attack and election interfering. Both US and Russia did that.
Stop nuclear proliferation.
Russia could assist NK on the denuclearization.
Discuss about the Ukraine that must be left independent from Russia.
Crimea is okay because the referendum resulted that majority of Crimean wants to annex to the Soviet.
Assist Syria resolve its refugee crisis. Allow them to return home to live in peace in their homeland. Remove Iran from Syria as well as Russia forces as soon as the ISIS are contained. Resolve all those rebel problems destabilizing Syria.

It is not a good idea to replace Assad. Why? Because there is no other capable leader who could really take over Syria. Replacement could even be worst. Assad has tolerated Christians to live in Syria. It is the only Muslim state where Christians still survive in millions. The rest of the Muslim countries have zero tolerance for Christians. Muslims kill them all, except few hiding in Iraq, Egypt, and Pakistan, but they are enslaved and frequently tortured by the Muslims.

Discuss about China's encroachment at the Pacific Spratly islands that don't belong to China. China I think is more dangerous than Russia in the long run.

I think Putin with positive motivations by president Trump could be our ally instead of enemy. Roots of Russia came from the Christian Orthodox. Christianity was introduced into Kievan Rus by Greek missionaries from Byzantium in the 9th century. It was during the 1917 revolution, when the Czar and family were destroyed by the communist. But majority of Russians including Ukraine are still Christians. I think they want to be friends with Christians in the West.

Bottom line the democrats/liberals/socialist, MSM's want president Trump dead as they depict in pictures. President Trump must not be intimidated by them, but must continue the pursuit of Making America Great Again.

May God bless the Autumn summit of president Trump and PM Putin in the US, for the sake of peace for the US, Russia, and the world. Thank you.