Trump-Putin talks come down to who looks stronger — political scientist

He shared his opinions with Espreso TV.

“I’m not sure Trump’s talks with Putin will happen quickly, as there’s a significant question of which of these ‘alpha males’ appears stronger. On one hand, Trump sees Putin as someone who could bomb the United States, and he was aware of this during his first presidency, as demonstrated by the Helsinki meeting. At the same time, Trump is entering the White House on a high, as this is an unprecedented event in U.S. history — when a president who lost an election has managed to reclaim the White House. That’s why Trump feels like the leader of the world due to this comeback,” the political scientist commented.

In his opinion, Trump will enter into negotiations only when he is sure that he will be able to communicate with Putin from a leadership position.

“The announced story about attacks that will no longer happen also reveals how Trump and Putin might react to certain events. Media reports suggest that Trump allegedly told Putin not to escalate the situation. However, today, on November 11, all Russian aircraft were scrambled, flew to the launch site, turned around, and flew back. This indicates that Putin is also raising the stakes, playing to his ambitions, and demonstrating his own claim to global leadership. And here, I wonder how the new White House will respond,” Victor Shlinchak concluded.

• On November 11, the Washington Post reported on an alleged conversation between the leaders of Russia and the United States, but the Kremlin denied the information about such a phone call between U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.