BOLTON ON TRUMP/RUSSIA – AT 9:32 A.M. ET:   No one is tougher on America's enemies than John Bolton, the president's national-security adviser.  He speaks out on Mr. Trump's approach to Vladimir Putin in their upcoming summit, and dashes the idea that the president is "soft on Russia."  From Fox: 

In his first interview since meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow last week, National Security Adviser John Bolton told "Fox News Sunday" that critics are wrong to suggest President Trump has been too soft on Russia.

President Trump’s upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin will take place in Helsinki, Finland, on July 16, the White House announced last week.

"I don't think anybody ought to have a case of the vapors" about President Trump's rhetoric on NATO and Russia, Bolton said.

"The main rationale to have a bilateral meeting between Trump and Putin: let them discuss these issues and see exactly where there might be room for progress, or where they might find there's no room at all," he added.

The meeting would allow the leaders to cut through "political noise" about alleged Russian collusion, Bolton said.

"I think the president will want to have a conversation about this and say we don’t want to see meddling in the 2018 election," Bolton said.

The national security adviser had said last year, before joining the Trump White House, that Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 election was “act of war” and warned: “We negotiate with Russia at our peril.”

Bolton cited Trump's historic nuclear summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un as evidence that a one-on-one meeting can have unexpected, positive results.

Noting that North Koreans once referred to him as a "very ugly fellow," Bolton offered an anecdote from the Singapore meeting.

"At one point in our lunch, Kim Jon Un said, 'The two of us need to get a picture together, I need to show my hardliners you're not such a bad guy.'"

COMMENT:  The critical issue in any negotiations is the simple matter of who's doing the negotiating.  I never trusted Obama or John Kerry, for good reason.  And the result of their "negotiations" was one American loss after another.  I do trust Donald Trump and John Bolton, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.  They have a proved record of putting American interests first.

Now we'll see the results, although results often take some time to pan out.

July 1,  2018