For live updates of President Trump’s visit to Britain, go here. Only a few hours into his trip to the U.K., Britons learned that the American president who had just shaken up NATO allies in Brussels was not out of the provocation business. Around the time a dinner in Mr. Trump’s honor was taking place at an Oxfordshire palace, word spread that he had given an interview highly critical of the dinner’s host. That would be Prime Minister Theresa May. And so ended Day 1. Some highlights of the trip so far: • Mr. Trump, fresh from breaking eggs in Brussels, was back in form in Britain, telling a newspaper that Prime Minister May was mishandling the Brexit talks. • Shortly after he arrived at the ambassador’s residence and again outside the dinner, protesters began to make their voices heard.<doc-sep>HELSINKI (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s week-long adventure on the world stage in Europe came to a raucous conclusion in Helsinki on Monday, with American allies fuming and confused and Russian President Vladimir Putin literally smiling at his good fortune. U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin react at the end of the joint news conference after their meeting in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger Trump’s trip to Belgium, Britain and Finland was marked by his frequent taunts and threats aimed at America’s NATO allies, a sharp contrast to his unrestrained bid to curry favor with Russia despite the conclusion by U.S. intelligence agencies that Moscow meddled in the 2016 U.S. election to aid his candidacy. Even for Trump’s high-drama, tweet-driven presidency, this was the most heavily criticized trip abroad of his 18 months in office. The only smooth sections were a tea at Windsor Castle with Queen Elizabeth - although he kept the nonagenarian monarch waiting and walked in front of her - and golfing at his own Turnberry course in Scotland. In Brussels, Trump sowed confusion and chaos, blasting NATO allies for not contributing enough money for their own defense, then praising them for their contributions. He arrived 45 minutes late to the second day of meetings and hijacked the agenda. In an insult aimed at German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Trump called Germany a “captive” of Moscow for its support of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia. Hours later, he said he has great relations with Merkel. On to Britain, Trump tested the resolve of Prime Minister Theresa May in a critical week by telling a newspaper that one of her political opponents, recently resigned Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, would be a great prime minister. The bombshell interview came out just after May had rolled out the red carpet to Trump for a gala dinner. Trump criticized the Brexit deal that she negotiated regarding Britain’s departure from the European Union, then called her a great leader who should do as she sees fit. Allies had hoped that his “America First” bluster, trashing of Western leaders and questioning of the post-World War Two defense framework would not translate into permanent damage to relations. A senior NATO diplomatic source, who was in the meetings at last week’s NATO summit, said the mood was grim in the wake of Trump’s visit but there was also relief that he did not force a change in policy. “The expectations in Europe that Trump would mellow are behind us now, we no longer have those illusions. But we need to put constraints on this, we need less histrionics,” the source said. Leslie Vinjamuri, head of the U.S. and Americas program at the Chatham House think tank, said Trump’s style of first criticizing allies through tweets and then declaring publicly that all was well was part of a pattern that seemed intentional. “The fancy term is multi-vocal signaling - in other words he sends messages out within the same half an hour, the same hour, and he’s speaking to different audiences. He’s very effective at it. Much of what he was doing on this visit was doublespeak,” Vinjamuri told reporters. ‘ERRATIC CONDUCT’ On the eve of his summit with Putin, Trump added insult to injury by calling the EU a “foe” for its trade policies in a CBS interview that aired on Sunday. That language stood in stark contrast to the scene on Monday at Finland’s presidential palace, where Trump called the Russian leader, accused by the West of all manner of grievances, a “good competitor” and “I think the word competitor is a compliment.” As Air Force One carried Trump back to Washington, he drew harsh condemnation from both Republicans and Democrats. “Coming close on the heels of President Trump’s bombastic and erratic conduct toward our closest friends and allies in Brussels and Britain, today’s press conference marks a recent low point in the history of the American Presidency,” Republican Senator John McCain said in a statement. The president’s critics pointed to Trump’s refusal to publicly criticize Putin, who again denied that the “Russian state” interfered in the U.S. election and seemed puzzled by why the question kept coming up. Always seeing the U.S. investigation into Moscow’s interference as casting doubt on the legitimacy of his 2016 election victory, Trump said that while American intelligence blamed Russia, he gave credence to Putin’s “extremely strong and powerful” denial. Trump left with no concrete achievements from his long-desired summit with Russia’s leader. Putin, who has been staring down American presidents since he rose to power in 2000, dismissed Trump’s concerns about Russia’s annexation of Crimea and gave vague promises to hold a dialogue about Syria and nuclear weapons. The former KGB officer showed up late for the summit, held one-on-one talks with Trump for more than two hours and smiled and appeared to chortle when a reporter asked him whether Russia has compromising material from when then-businessman Trump visited Moscow in 2013 for the Miss Universe pageant. At the end of the event, Trump left with a tangible gift: Putin handed him a soccer ball to mark Russia’s hosting of the World Cup. One U.S. senator suggested Trump check it for listening devices and never let it enter the White House. Whether Trump sustained long-lasting damage from the trip remains to be seen, but his supporters doubt it will hurt him with his political base, the voters who carried him to victory in 2016 and like to see him shake up the world order. “I think his base feels that it would have been rude and not productive to stand not six feet away from the president of Russia and call him a liar,” said Republican strategist Barry Bennett, a former Trump campaign adviser.<doc-sep>President Trump Donald TrumpTrump lashes out after grand jury seated for New York criminal probe Schumer tees up vote on Jan. 6 commission bill Senators struggle to save Jan. 6 commission MORE capped off a tumultuous week abroad with a message: “Witch hunt.” That’s how he ended his joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a recitation of his familiar refrain against the federal probe into Moscow’s interference in the 2016 presidential election and its possible connection to the Trump campaign. The summit in Helsinki at which Trump refused to denounce Russia’s election meddling was the culmination of a turbulent trip that also saw Trump roil NATO allies in Brussels and undercut the British prime minister on her home turf. ADVERTISEMENT Here’s a look back at Trump’s wild European ride. Tuesday Trump departed for Brussels, having spent the days leading up to the NATO summit railing against allies for not spending more on defense. He kept up the criticism aboard Air Force One, suggesting on Twitter that U.S. allies should reimburse the United States if they don’t meet the alliance’s defense spending goal. NATO allies agreed in 2014 to spend 2 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on defense by 2024. The spending goals are for each country’s own defense budget, not payments to the alliance itself. Wednesday Once in Brussels, Trump wasted no time in chiding allies, kicking off the summit with a breakfast with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in which he blasted Germany for its defense spending and plans for a gas pipeline with Russia. “Germany is totally controlled by Russia, because they will be getting from 60 to 70 percent of their energy from Russia and a new pipeline,” Trump said. German Chancellor Angela Merkel shot back by drawing a contrast to the history of Soviet-controlled East Germany, where she grew up. “I wanted to say that, because of current events, I have witnessed this myself, that a part of Germany was controlled by the Soviet Union. And I am very happy that we are today unified in freedom as the Federal Republic of Germany,” Merkel said in her arrival remarks at the summit. In a closed-door meeting with NATO heads of state later that day, Trump floated increasing NATO members’ defense spending goal to 4 percent of GDP. He later doubled down on his rhetoric in a tweet, asking “what good is NATO” and demanding allies increase spending immediately. Thursday morning On the second day of the NATO summit, allies held an emergency session on Trump’s spending demands. During the meeting, Trump reportedly suggested the U.S. could “go it alone” if NATO doesn’t increase its spending goal. As the rocky summit came to a close, Trump claimed victory, saying allies agreed to boost their spending, though he did not provide specifics on which countries agreed to increase spending, or by how much. Others, though, suggested that allies simply reaffirmed their commitment to the 2 percent goal. “So we have a commitment to spend 2 percent,” Stoltenberg said during a CNN interview, when pressed on the assertion that allies will go above that. He added that “there’s a sense of urgency when it comes to delivering on that commitment.” Thursday evening After Brussels, it was off to England. There, Trump was greeted with pomp and circumstance at Blenheim Palace — including a performance from a British military marching band wearing traditional bearskin hats — as part of a gala dinner with Prime Minister Theresa May. But the celebratory mood was dashed when, during dinner, the British tabloid The Sun published an explosive interview with Trump. Trump told the publication May’s plans for Great Britain to have a “soft” exit from the European Union could “kill” any future U.S.-U.K. trade deal and said Boris Johnson, May’s chief political rival who recently resigned as foreign secretary over her Brexit plans, would “make a great prime minister.” During the interview, Trump also echoed language used by white nationalists in saying that Europe is “losing” its culture because of refugees and immigrants. Friday Trump held meetings with May at her Chequers estate as anti-Trump protests in London drew thousands, including the flight of the much-discussed “Trump baby” blimp. In seeking to do damage control following The Sun interview, Trump heaped praise on May as a “very smart, very tough, very capable person” and said he is fine with however she wants to proceed with Brexit. But Trump also stood by many of the comments he made to The Sun, including his belief that Johnson would make a great prime minister. Trump also met with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle, where a video of him awkwardly cutting off the 92-year-old monarch while they walked went viral online. Meanwhile, perhaps the most consequential development ahead of Trump’s summit with Putin happened back in the U.S.: Mueller’s indictment of 12 Russian military intelligence officers accused of hacking a number of Democratic officials and entities during the 2016 presidential race. The indictments, announced on Friday, upped pressure on Trump to address the election interference directly with Putin and prompted lawmakers from both parties to call for Trump to cancel the summit. Trump, however, did not comment on the indictments himself that day and pressed on with the summit. Saturday Trump spent the day at his Turnberry resort in Scotland, where he was greeted by more protesters. Trump said on Twitter that he was spending his time at Turnberry with “two days of meetings, calls and hopefully, some golf,” which he added is his “primary form of exercise.” He also took time to get in shots at CNN and former President Obama. In responding to Friday’s indictments, Trump blamed his predecessor. “The stories you heard about the 12 Russians yesterday took place during the Obama Administration, not the Trump Administration. Why didn’t they do something about it, especially when it was reported that President Obama was informed by the FBI in September, before the Election?” he tweeted. Sunday Trump left Scotland on Sunday afternoon to head to Helsinki for his summit with Putin.<doc-sep>According to the Associated Press, the Komsomolskaya Pravda congratulated the American leader for engaging Putin, no matter the “opposition from his own elite and the hysterics of the media.” In contrast to the outrage roiling U.S. news channels, the Russian media reaction to the summit was more calm and cautious. The moment marks only the beginning of a potential thaw in a relationship that has been in deep freeze. And while Trump may be well disposed to Putin, there's a belief that his administration still hews to a broadly hawkish line on Russia.<doc-sep>
President Trump Donald TrumpTrump lashes out after grand jury seated for New York criminal probe Schumer tees up vote on Jan. 6 commission bill Senators struggle to save Jan. 6 commission MORE is railing against what he described as the migration of "millions and millions of people" into Europe, declaring that the continent is "losing its culture" to refugees and asylum seekers from the Middle East and Africa. In an interview with the British tabloid The Sun published Thursday, Trump said it is a "shame" that European leaders had allowed so many migrants to enter their countries. “Allowing the immigration to take place in Europe is a shame," the U.S. president told the tabloid, which his owned by conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch. ADVERTISEMENT "I think it changed the fabric of Europe and, unless you act very quickly, it’s never going to be what it was, and I don’t mean that in a positive way," he continued. Trump's publicized comments came shortly after he arrived in the U.K. for a long-awaited trip on the heels of a tense set of meetings at the annual NATO summit in Brussels, where he delivered a blistering criticism of European allies and demanded that member nations pay more for defense. The president's comments during his interview with The Sun, however, highlighted Trump's deeply held skepticism of immigration and resurfaced a line of attack that he had used often on the campaign trail — that Europe was being overrun by non-Europeans and was quickly becoming a shell of what it once was. "I think you are losing your culture," he told the tabloid. "Look around. You go through certain areas that didn’t exist ten or 15 years ago." In fact, migration levels to Europe have declined recently, dropping to numbers more common prior to 2015, when an influx of people sought to seek asylum on the continent to escape conflict and humanitarian crises in the Middle East and Africa. Back in the U.S., Trump has led a crackdown on illegal immigration, warning that a failure to secure America's southern border would result in criminals and drugs entering the U.S. That crackdown, however, has become the subject of controversy for the Trump administration, after it was revealed that thousands of migrant children had been separated from their parents at the border as part of enforcement efforts.