New Delhi: Time magazine on the cover of its latest 30 July issue features a morphed image of the US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The issue, titled “The Summit Crisis”, comes in the wake of the two leaders’ controversial meeting in Helsinki, Finland on Monday.
At the summit, the two leaders had a private meeting with only translators present before addressing a joint press conference. In his replies to the media queries, Trump disregarded the US intelligence agencies’ assertion of Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. He instead sided with Putin’s denial of Russian interference.
Trump received bipartisan criticism from both sides of the political divide in the US, prompting him to backtrack in a prepared statement. He later added that the Russian apparatus is still attempting to undermine the democratic process in the US.
US special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, had last week indicted 12 Russian nationals for their interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
The critics blamed Trump for siding with Russia, undermining his own intelligence agencies.
Trump’s ever-changing stance on Russia has inspired the latest Time cover. He had also made an appearance on the American magazine’s June cover, titled “King me. Visions of absolute power”, in which he was depicted gazing into a mirror and seeing his reflection as a king.
Being on the Time cover is something of a personal obsession for Trump. Framed fake Time cover with the US president and the headline “The Apprentice is a television smash!” have been reported to be hanging in five of his clubs.
Trump plans to invite Putin to Washington in the autumn.
