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CNN Live Saturday

Richard Wolffe discusses President's European Trip, Bush-Putin Summit

Aired June 16, 2001 - 17:03   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: Was the president's trip to Europe successful? Our next guest says the trip did Mr. Bush a world of good. He is Richard Wolffe, White House correspondent for "The Financial Times." Mr. Wolffe, good to see you again. Welcome back.

RICHARD WOLFFE, "THE FINANCIAL TIMES": Thank you.

FRAZIER: I don't think it was your newspaper, but a tabloid in Britain said welcome, Mr. Bush. We are here. With a little picture of the globe. Early on they didn't give him a lot of respect for understanding geography in Europe.

WOLFFE: No, and they were pretty ugly, those comments. You know this is the kind of thing you've got to expect from Europeans who are struggling to find their way in the world, feeling a bit insecure about American power and to some extent their caricatures were blown away, I think, by the president's visit. They were charmed. They found him a forceful energetic leader. On the other hand, there were some real differences of opinion here. And I don't think the president and this White House did themselves any favors in trying to get rid of them.

FRAZIER: Do you think they were even taking up topics that matter to Europeans?

WOLFFE: Well to come extent, the environment, yeah, sure. The Environmental politics are much more important in Europe than they are in America. And those big differences between the Bush White House and European governments still remain.

Missile defense, less so. You know, there are other security matters that are important to Europeans such as the Balkans, the possibility that civil war might break out any day in Macedonia. These are the kind of things where Europe really doesn't provide the leadership, and President Bush could have done. Instead they got kind of bogged down in these sideline discussions on missile defense and on the environment.

FRAZIER: Well, you mentioned that this was early on, and how much really gets done in these first visits and how much are people just sizing each other up to see whether as Mrs. Thatcher once said about Mikhail Gorbachev, a man we can work with? WOLFFE: Sure. There is a lot of that. A lot of these leaders want to establish that relationship with America. Remember, they need America more than America needs Europe in many ways. And there's a whole lot of personal chemistry going on. There's also a lot of domestic politics. Remember that many of these European governments are center left. They have much more in common with President Clinton's administration than with this current Bush Administration.

So, sure, there's a lot of feeling around, a lot of finding out if they can do business with each other. And you have to remember, business is one of the sticking points. A lot of trade disputes coming up with Europe, something to watch out for.

FRAZIER: Interesting, though, you have pointed out that at the beginning of the Clinton Administration there was a lot of mistrust then too, uncertainty about what to expect. Almost as if change is the enemy rather than anything else.

WOLFFE: And I think that is really true here. Europeans don't like change when it comes to the world's only super power. It takes them a long time to get used to the idea of Washington holding all the cards in foreign policy. They don't like it, they don't really understand really where this administration is coming from. So in that sense, the president did a great job of putting out his agenda and laying it out. The sad thing is Europeans don't agree with the bulk of it.

FRAZIER: And what about the Russians? How do you think 90 minutes together plus a little extra time can actually establish a relationship of trust between Mr. Putin and Mr. Bush? Is that realistic?

WOLFFE: I don't think it is. But it says a lot about this president that he feels he can establish a rapport and can see into people's souls -- I think that's his term -- after just a one-on-one meeting. That's the kind of politician he is. I don't think the Russians really believe that they can do politics like that.

You're looking at a foreign policy that's in motion, in charge, an evolution here with this administration. They're talking about having trade links with Russia, maybe developing the kinds of ties that the Clinton Administration had, that the president actually was really critical of during the campaign. So I don't think a lot of people expect that this is much more than a starting point.

FRAZIER: And there we will have to make this our ending point. Richard Wolffe from "The Financial Times." Thank you for joining us once again. A pleasure to hear your insights today.

WOLFFE: My pleasure.

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