I wrote earlier about Vladimir Putin testing Joe Biden.

His latest move involved massive military drills off the coast of Hawaii that we had to scramble F-22 Raptors to address.

That was on top of the cyberattacks on critical industries by Russian criminals.

So how did Biden respond to Putin during his meeting? Well, we don’t know the substance of the private discussion yet, but we do know what happened when they sat together for the press and were asked some questions.

Biden’s team had previously said that he wouldn’t be holding a joint press conference with Putin, but this sit-down together gave him something of the same arrangement anyway.

We also reported earlier about Biden relying heavily on note cards, including some which appeared to have prepared answers.

Here again, you can see him reaching for those cards in what’s just supposed to be a brief photo-op/few comments moment with the press prior to the meeting.

Biden brought his flashcards into his meeting with Putin. pic.twitter.com/vrAUrpdmaX

— Benny (@bennyjohnson) June 16, 2021

Telling. pic.twitter.com/knaUP7dx9Q

— Benny (@bennyjohnson) June 16, 2021

U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin sat down in a lakeside Geneva villa for their first summit since Biden took office https://t.co/DWAAp7eT6s pic.twitter.com/b44mjnBgzT

— Reuters (@Reuters) June 16, 2021

But then it got worse.

According to multiple reporters who were present, a reporter asked Biden if he trusted Putin and he nodded yes, he did. Reporters asked Putin why do you fear Navalny, and what’d you if Ukraine joined NATO. Putin didn’t answer.

Putin looked at me but ignored my shouted questions as to if he feared Navalny or what he would do if Ukraine joined NATO

Biden nodded his head “yes” when asked if he trusted Putin

And Biden laughed when this pooler rolled his eyes and shrugged at the chaos of the media scrum pic.twitter.com/p8d5hIkaKD

— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) June 16, 2021

Pool reporter shouted to @POTUS and Putin if they can trust each other, and then followed with "Mr. President do you trust him?" Biden looked me in the eye and nodded affirmatively. #summit

— Stephanie Gallman (@sgallman) June 16, 2021

Even the CBS correspondent couldn’t believe it.

Hmmm.

Print pool: "Inside, a pooler shouted Mr. President, do you trust Putin? Biden nodded yes up and down. Another pooler asked Putin if he feared Navalny and what he would do if Ukraine joined NATO. He looked up and did not respond."

— Kathryn Watson (@kathrynw5) June 16, 2021

So Biden just told the world that he’s weak and easily played by saying he trusts Putin? Please, don’t ever talk about Trump who actually was tough when you get this kind of an inane response.

The White House was then forced to have to clean up the mess again and handle his bad response.

Biden’s @WHCommsDir says: “It was a chaotic scrum with reporters shouting over each other. @POTUS was very clearly not responding to any one question, but nodding in acknowledgment to the press generally.”

US reporter who asked Biden that says Biden made eye contact and nodded.

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) June 16, 2021

Sure. The reporters just imagined it, right? I believe that. And I believe in the Easter Bunny and unicorns as well. What a completely unforced bad move by Biden. How does anyone respond that way?

But this wasn’t the first error when it came to Putin.

As I reported previously, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had to clean up the mess when Biden appeared to go along with a proposal over the exchange of cybercriminals, where Biden got played by Putin.

We have to hope he survives through the meeting and doesn’t put the country in too much of a bind. What a horrible position to be in with Biden there.