Ukraine Expert Reveals The 1 Thing Trump Cares About — And It’s So On Brand

Retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman said it's "notoriously hard" to prep the president to meet Vladimir Putin.

Retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman on Friday said preparing Donald Trump for high-stakes meetings is “notoriously hard,” and he laid out the most effective approach to use to convince the U.S. president to adopt a tough stance against Vladimir Putin during their face-to-face talks.

In an interview with “CNN News Central,” Vindman, who served as the director for European Affairs at the National Security Council during the first Trump presidency and also testified against Trump in his 2019 impeachment trial, was asked what advice he would give the president ahead of his hastily arranged Alaska summit.

“I’ve attempted to prep President Trump on numerous occasions in preparation for meetings with Russia, Ukraine and so forth,” Vindman said. “It is not the easiest task. He does not take good prep. He does not understand the history. He doesn’t care to understand the history.”

Vindman recalled Trump’s stance toward the Russian dictator during their meeting in 2018, when Trump infamously declared he believed Putin over the U.S.’s own intelligence agencies about Russia’s efforts to help him win the 2016 election.

“When Putin starts spouting off about grievances against” former Democratic Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, “that’s gravy, that’s like red meat to Trump to kind of sink his teeth into,” Vindman said. “That’s what happened in Helsinki.”