a made-for-TV moment

"Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse," Trump tweeted Monday morning, blaming "...the Rigged Witch Hunt!"

The Russian foreign ministry responded by liking Trump's tweet and then replying: "We agree."

The summit started late because Putin arrived in Helsinki about a half hour behind schedule in another display of the Russian's leader famous lack of punctuality.

This "shameful comedy" has been staged to present the normalization of Russia-U.S. ties.

Trump and his aides have repeatedly tried to lower expectations about what the summit will achieve. He told CBS News that he didn't "expect anything" from Putin. Trump told reporters during a breakfast Monday with Finland's president that he thought the summit would go "fine."

Observers have raised concerns about the fact that the leaders met alone during their first meeting, but for a pair of interpreters, meaning there will be no corroborating witnesses to accurately represent what was said during the conversation. As the meeting started, Trump winked at Putin.

HERE is the video.

In tweets Monday, Trump continued to undermine the investigation and blamed his predecessor, Barack Obama, for failing to stop Russia's efforts to sway the 2016 election in Trump's favor. He claimed Obama "was informed by the FBI about Russian Meddling, he said it couldn't happen, was no big deal, & did NOTHING about it."

The Obama administration did, in fact, take action, including confronting Putin in person as well as expelling nearly three dozen Russian diplomats the U.S. said were actually intelligence operatives and imposing new sanctions.

Trump was eager for a made-for-TV moment that will dominate headlines focus on areas where Moscow and Washington may be able to find common ground.

Putin will not be shooting for official recognition of Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, aware that the U.S. Congress would never allow such action. But he welcomes a symbolic end to Western protests over Crimea.

Trump is colluding with Putin and Russia right before your eyes.