--- title: How Biden's Helsinki Moment Compares to Trump's 5 Years Ago description: Trump praised Putin at an infamous press conference in Helsinki. Biden's visit is meant to rebuke Putin by welcoming NATO's newest member. canonical: https://time.com/6294254/biden-helsinki-trump-putin-nato/ author: Brian Bennett article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-07-12T21:40:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-01T14:57:12.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: How Biden's Helsinki Moment Compares to Trump's 5 Years Ago og:description: In July 2018, Trump praised Putin at an infamous press conference in Helsinki. Five years later, Biden has arrived there with a very different message og:url: https://time.com/6294254/biden-helsinki-trump-putin-nato/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt688a58029effcba5/698a3e9b929fad09e6bf9fa1/biden-trump-helsinki-comparison-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: biden-trump-helsinki-comparison-1 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Biden's Helsinki Moment Compares to Trump's 5 Years Ago twitter:description: In July 2018, Trump praised Putin at an infamous press conference in Helsinki. Five years later, Biden has arrived there with a very different message twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt688a58029effcba5/698a3e9b929fad09e6bf9fa1/biden-trump-helsinki-comparison-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Five Years After Trump Defended Putin in Helsinki, Biden Arrives With His Own Message > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=b594254e-bd1c-44b9-8d5d-a1220197d3ed&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Breaking Down the Helsinki Summit [Watch (HLS stream): Breaking Down the Helsinki Summit](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/cpcg9AFD.m3u8) (4:16)  _Published 2018-07-18. The controversial comments, the bipartisan backlash, and global response._  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. Updated: Dec 1, 2023 2:57 PM UTCPublished: Jul 12, 2023 9:40 PM UTC The controversial comments, the bipartisan backlash, and global response.  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. Updated: Dec 1, 2023 2:57 PM UTCPublished: Jul 12, 2023 9:40 PM UTC President Joe Biden stood just 120 miles from Russia’s border when he stopped in Helsinki on Thursday to celebrate Finland’s newly-minted membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a club the Nordic country had resisted joining for seven decades. The trip to Russia’s doorstep amplifies both Biden’s steadfast support of NATO and Finland’s very public rebuke of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in joining the alliance. But the moment also draws a stark contrast to one five years earlier, when an American President traveled to Finland’s capital for a very different meeting, and delivered a very different message. When Donald Trump arrived at the Finnish Presidential Palace in July 2018, he met privately with Putin alone for two hours. The two leaders’ translators were the only other people in the room. No notes were taken. [Trump](https://time.com/5342747/donald-trump-vladimir-putin-summit-2/) then stood next to Putin during a press conference and praised his Russian counterpart as a “good competitor” and called the U.S. itself “foolish” for allowing its relationship with Russia to fray. When asked if he believed the detailed information collected by his own intelligence agencies showing how Russia had hacked Democratic National Committee computers and intentionally released emails to interfere with the 2016 elections, Trump sided with Putin. “I have great confidence in my intelligence people,” Trump said, “but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.” Trump’s refusal to rebuke Putin and his unwillingness to defend the conclusions of his own intelligence agencies reverberated through the country and Europe. For European allies, it was a public demonstration that Trump wouldn’t stand up to Putin’s actions and sowed doubts that Trump would be willing to back up the U.S. obligations under Article 5 of NATO’s treaty to defend Europe in the face of a Russian attack.  U.S. President Joe Biden waves upon arrival in Helsinki, Finland, on July 12. Kevin Lamarque—Reuters Biden’s visit to Finland five years later, with both Finland and Sweden joining NATO, and the treaty signatories increasing military support for Ukraine, provides a striking contrast to his predecessor’s 2018 visit, showing how much repair work Biden has presided over since taking over the White House from Trump. “When Putin and his craven lust for land and power unleashed his brutal war on Ukraine, he was betting NATO would break apart,” Biden said during his speech Wednesday at Vilnius University before departing Lithuania for Finland. “He thought our unity would shatter at the first testing. He thought democratic leaders would be weak. But he thought wrong.” During his four years as President, Trump repeatedly questioned NATO’s value and belittled members of the alliance who he said weren’t contributing enough to their own defense. “Trump was leading us toward a future in which NATO might have broken up and every ally would have to fend for themselves in dealing with the Russians,” says Tom Malinowski, a senior fellow at the McCain Institute and a former member of Congress. Biden’s trip to Helsinki, he adds, is “a symbol not only of his embrace of the NATO alliance but of the revitalization and expansion of the alliance under American leadership. NATO is obviously stronger and bigger than it was just a few years ago when it was in danger of falling apart.” In Helsinki, Biden met with the leaders of Nordic countries and talked with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö about his country’s security concerns along its 800-mile border with Russia. With the addition of Finland and Sweden on track to join NATO, the alliance’s commanders will need to launch new military assessments and contingency planning for how to respond if there’s a Russian border incursion against either of those countries. Niinistö said that 80% of Finns support the country’s NATO membership and a similarly high percentage support Finland coming to the defense of other NATO countries. Biden’s leadership was instrumental in changing how Finland secures itself. “The new era in Finnish security policy has begun and you will be one of those who brought it to history,” Niinistö told Biden during a joint press conference on Thursday. Before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington, Biden had a message for Putin about his flailing effort to conquer Ukraine and make it part of Russia. Putin’s attempt to roll tanks into Kyiv early last year played a major part in convincing Finland and Sweden to join NATO. “Putin’s already lost the war,” Biden told reporters. “Putin has a real problem. How does he move from here?” ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] Set against the backdrop of Helsinki, Finland, this week's meeting between Trump and Putin was the seventh official summit between leaders of the United States. And Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The two leaders have met before an international gatherings like the 2017 at G20 Summit and have spoken at least eight times over the phone. What began with a handshake and an apparent. Front of the eyes of the world continued with an unprecedented, off the record meeting with just Putin, Trump and their translators for two hours. After later bringing in their top aides for joint talks, the two leaders re- emerged side by side at a news conference that rattled many across party lines in the US. [ MUSIC ] Do you hold Russia at all accountable for anything in particular? Yes, I do. I hold both countries responsible. I think that The United States has been foolish. I think we've all been foolish. Trump's remarks were in sharp opposition to The Justice Department's decision to charge 12 Russian intelligence officers for their interference in US elections this past Friday. The indictment charges 12 Russian military officers by name for conspiring to interfere with the 2016 presidential election. And just hours after the Trump / Putin press conference, American prosecutors charged a Russian woman for trying to influence U. S. lawmakers. My people came to me, Dan Coats came to me, and Some other's said they think it Russia. I have President Putin, he just said it's not Russia. I will say this, I don't see any reason why it would be. I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that president Putin was extremely strong and powerful [ MUSIC ] In his denial today. But Trump backtracked on his original remarks clarifying at a recent press conference this. I accept our intellgence community's conclusion that Russia's meddling in the 2016 Election took place. Could be other people also. There's a lot of people out there. I said the word would instead of wouldn't. And the sentence should have been, I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be Russia. Sort of a double- negative. Still, Trump's original comments on his own country's intelligence and alignment with Russia was met with swift, furious reactions from many. Former CIA Director John Brennan called Trump's performance treasonous. Dan Coats, the Director of National Intelligence nominated by Trump We have been clear in our assessments of Russian meddling. Former 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain said it was one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory. The damage inflicted by President Trump's naivet ��, egotism, false equivalence, and sympathy for autocrats is difficult to calculate. But it is clear that the summit in Helsinki was a tragic mistake. Tragic mistake. Commentators on Fox News, often supporting of the President, had a critical response to Trump's behavior too. This was the time and the place for the President to look Putin squarely in the eye and say, you will be punished for what you did in 2016, and don't ever think about doing that again. But he didn't, and that's what made it disgusting. A US President on foreign soil, talking to our biggest enemy. Adversary or competitor, I don't know how we define them these days, is essentially letting the guy get away with this. And not even offering a mild criticism. That sets us back a lot. Trump was interviewed by Fox's Sean Hannity after his meeting with Putin and shared successes he believed to be overshadowed. I think it's a shame. We're talking about nuclear proliferation. We're talking about Syria and humanitarian aid. We're talking about all of these different things and we get questions on the witch hunt. And while there were no tangible results from the summit, the two leaders are framing this As the first of many meetings to come. But after a contentious week abroad, where Trump was also a polarizing force with NATO allies in Brussels, his apparent alignment with Putin and Russia has left the US political world unsettled. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6294254/biden-helsinki-trump-putin-nato/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6294254/biden-helsinki-trump-putin-nato/"},"headline":"Five Years After Trump Defended Putin in Helsinki, Biden Arrives With His Own Message","datePublished":"2023-07-12T21:40:33.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-01T14:57:12.000Z","description":"In July 2018, Trump praised Putin at an infamous press conference in Helsinki. 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