WASHINGTON – Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC) Co-Chair David N. Cicilline (RI-01), who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued the following statement after the White House announced President Trump will hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 16th:

“President Trump’s ‘Dictators First’ approach to foreign policy is doing America no favors. Just a few weeks after the President met with Kim Jong Un, we’ve learned that North Korea is continuing to upgrade their abilities to produce nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, he continues to push away our allies with a stupid trade war that is already shipping American jobs overseas.”

“It is senseless that now, on top of all this, the President will meet one-on-one with Vladimir Putin without any clear demands or acknowledgement of the serious strategic issues that remain between our two countries. The Kremlin is continuing its efforts to interfere in Western democracies, including in our upcoming midterm elections. The Russians have grown more aggressive, not less, since President Trump took office. As we’ve seen most recently with North Korea, no dictator is going to stop their hostile behavior because President Trump gives them a meeting. The only thing that will happen is America becoming less safe at home and less respected around the world.”