Fooled by Putin again? Trump’s rhetoric suggests he could be

Fooled by Putin again? Trump’s rhetoric suggests he could be

 Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and US President Donald Trump are seen before a meeting in Helsinki, on July 16, 2018. 

Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

For weeks, President Donald Trump and his team have consistently maintained that he was never truly deceived by Vladimir Putin.When Trump, who had previously spoken positively about Putin for years, finally expressed criticism of the Russian leader recently, it seemed as if something had shifted. 

It had to be because Putin had changed in some way, according to the narrative.Despite all the efforts to reframe the past, Trump is now entering his most prominent meeting with Putin, and there's a risk he could again appear as if he was misled.Hosting Putin on American soil was already a risky move, especially considering past events, and the situation has become even more complex with the announcement of the Alaska summit just a week ago, a decision that Trump himself made.

Before the meeting on Friday, Trump and the White House were careful in how they framed the expectations. 

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described it as simply a "listening exercise." Secretary of State Marco Rubio shared that view. 

Trump also mentioned that this was just the first meeting, implying that a second one, potentially involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, would depend on achieving something first.However, by Thursday, that cautious approach quickly changed. Trump began making bold promises, saying twice that he felt a deal was about to happen.