US politics newsletter - Russia, Russia, Russia

By Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump has long had an affinity for Vladimir Putin. Decades of tensions between the United States and Russia aside, Trump, who often appears to seek good relations with autocrats, likes to emphasize the strength of his ties with the Russian president and former KGB spy. So, what a week to test that kinship! In a call with Putin, Trump planned to seek Russian backing for a ceasefire with Ukraine and a first big step toward peace. Let’s just say Trump didn’t get everything he wanted.

It was July 2018. Trump and Putin were meeting in Helsinki, Finland, for a high-stakes summit. The U.S. president’s performance at the closing press conference, in which he blamed the United States for the decline in relations with its former Cold War foe and placed more trust in Putin than U.S. intelligence agencies, drew outrage at home and abroad. Trump ended up walking some of his comments back. This is Jeff Mason , White House correspondent for Reuters, writing this week. I was one of two U.S. journalists who were called on at that press conference (when I asked Putin if he wanted Trump to win the 2016 presidential election, he said yes). I’ll never forget the moment or its reverberations.

Fast forward to 2025. This week’s high-stakes encounter was a phone call Trump held with Putin from the White House. There was no press conference afterwards, and perhaps that was by design. Trump had spent considerable effort talking up the Russian president’s desire for peace in Moscow’s war with Ukraine, but he came away from their call with a commitment only to stop attacking Ukraine’s energy facilities, not the 30-day full ceasefire he wanted – and that Ukraine had already said it would be prepared to accept. His trust in Putin apparently remained unshaken.

More talks toward peace will take place in Saudi Arabia, so watch this space. Meanwhile, Trump was fighting other battles at home, including with the judiciary , sparking a r are rebuke from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts , who issued a statement saying impeachment of judges, as sought by Trump and his allies, was not the way to object to their rulings.

The administration’s move to deport hundreds of Venezuelan migrants also faced judicial questioning. Meanwhile, on the economic battlefront, Trump chided the Federal Reserve for not cutting interest rates as his tariffs “transition” into the U.S. economy. Expect conflict on that – and on the wars in Europe and the Middle East – to continue for some time, Trump’s interventions aside.

POLL OF THE WEEK:

So, it’s not just Democrats who are concerned about Trump’s relationship with Moscow. More than half of Americans, including one in four Republicans, think Trump is "too closely aligned" with Russia, as he radically realigns U.S. foreign policy, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll .

THE VIEW FROM GERMANY: Trump has been pushing European leaders to step up their defense spending, with the threat of U.S. disengagement from collective defense hanging precariously over their heads. That, and the fight over tariffs, has shaken the continent. Germany’s response this week was to pass a massive spending surge , both to revive economic growth and to increase military spending. It was a win for conservative leader Friedrich Merz, the chancellor-in-waiting, and a sign that Trump’s policies are spurring European nations to act in their self-interests, too.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

March 24: Congress returns from week-long break

April 2: Trump's reciprocal tariff rates set to take effect

March 25: Frank Bisignano, Trump's nominee to be commissioner of the Social Security Administration, has confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee

THE WHO, WHAT AND WHEN:

• What happens if the Trump administration doesn't comply with a court order?

• Who is James Boasberg, the judge in Trump administration immigration fight?

• Who are the two Democratic FTC commissioners fired by Trump?