What A Summit Win Looks Like For Trump – And For Putin: From The Politics Desk

Welcome to nan online type of From nan Politics Desk, a newsletter that brings you nan NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and study from nan White House, Capitol Hill and nan run trail.

In today’s edition, Kristen Welker outlines nan stakes for nan in-person gathering betwixt President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, their first since 2019, arsenic they get successful Alaska. After shaking hands connected nan tarmac, Putin joined Trump successful his car. Follow on pinch unrecorded updates here.

Plus, Rob Wile answers this week’s scholar mobility connected what happens to nan money nan authorities collects from tariffs.

Sign up to person this newsletter successful your inbox each weekday here.

— Adam Wollner

The precocious stakes for Trump arsenic he comes look to look pinch Putin

Analysis by Kristen Welker

President Donald Trump’s acme coming pinch Russian President Vladimir Putin comes pinch incredibly precocious stakes for nan early of Russia’s warfare pinch Ukraine — and for Trump himself.

The president seemed to beryllium lowering expectations up of nan face-to-face meeting, telling Fox News Radio yesterday that “there a 25% chance that this gathering will not beryllium a successful meeting.”

So what does a triumph for Trump look like?

A elder management charismatic besides told maine that Trump “is realistic that this is apt a multistep process and he’s fresh and affirmative astir this measurement forward.” But Western and U.S. officials opportunity that a triumph for Trump is an unconditional and contiguous ceasefire, and that if location are conditions attached, that’s a triumph for Putin.

It remains to beryllium seen if Putin will effort to unreality these talks by raising different issues connected his agenda, for illustration a atomic arms woody and easing sanctions against Russia. It’s besides unclear whether Trump will connection immoderate incentives to nan Russians, and support his committedness to Ukraine and European friends that he will not discuss territory.

All of this underscores nan governmental consequence for Trump arsenic he navigates a warfare that has costs hundreds of thousands of lives and fueled a robust statement complete really agelong nan U.S. should supply financial and subject support to Ukraine.

Trump said during nan 2024 run that he would extremity nan warfare successful Ukraine successful 24 hours upon taking office, but he has acknowledged that doing truthful is acold much analyzable than he could person anticipated. Meanwhile, caller polling has recovered that much voters disapprove of his handling of nan war.

A caller Wall Street Journal poll recovered a slim mostly of voters (51%) disapproving of Trump’s handling of nan Russia-Ukraine war, while 41% approved (the study had a separator of correction of positive aliases minus 2.5 percent points). That canvass besides showed that 58% of voters were successful favour of sending further financial assistance to Ukraine, a 10-point summation since January, while 36% were successful opposition.

We’ll beryllium delving into nan fallout from nan high-stakes acme connected “Meet nan Press” this Sunday pinch Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.

Read much connected nan Trump-Putin summit:

✉️ Mailbag: Where does nan tariff money go?

Thanks to everyone who emailed us! This week’s mobility comes from Tara Vargas:

“Trump claims to beryllium raking successful trillions from tariffs. I publication that nan money goes into nan wide fund. But does it really? And if not there, where?”

To reply that, we turned to business newsman Rob Wile. Here’s his response:

Yes, it does spell into nan U.S. Treasury’s General Fund — thing nan section calls “America’s Checkbook” — and is utilized to finance some regular and semipermanent authorities operations, ranging from national worker salaries to liking payments.

Congress establishes really nan wide money is spent successful its appropriations bills. While nan Treasury Department tracks wherever revenues travel from, it mostly does not individually earmark a group of costs from a fixed gross root for a circumstantial purpose.

“You tin deliberation of [tariffs revenues] arsenic helping trim nan wide deficit, aliases offsetting nan costs of nan One Big Beautiful Bill,” said Marc Goldwein, elder vice president and elder argumentation head astatine nan nonpartisan deliberation vessel Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. “It doesn’t spell into immoderate benignant of dedicated spot fund.”

In July, nan Treasury took successful astir $29 cardinal successful tariffs. Every period since April, erstwhile Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs, has seen grounds tariffs revenues travel in. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget projects that nan tariffs could bring successful arsenic overmuch arsenic $1.3 trillion of nett caller revenues done nan extremity of Trump’s existent term, and $2.8 trillion done 2034 — though it cautions these estimates are “very rough” and intended to bespeak “the wide magnitude” of Trump’s wide attack to nan import taxes “given nan complexity of nan tariffs and their impacts.”

The U.S. Government Accountability Office, nan main auditing agency of nan national government, has recovered significant, long-running issues pinch really General Fund payments are tracked and reported, though it does not propose immoderate costs are actively being misappropriated.

The Treasury, it said successful March, “records transactions arsenic a group full alternatively of individual balances and past processes them done a assortment of systems.”

It continued: “As a result, we did not person capable accusation to find if nan amounts reported are reliable, and therefore, nan Schedules were not auditable. More recently, we’ve identified further challenges that effect nan expertise to intelligibly way funds. This includes oversight of accusation coming from extracurricular entities, specified arsenic banks, that cod money connected behalf of nan national government.”

That’s each From nan Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner.

If you person feedback — likes aliases dislikes — email america astatine politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com

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