The Budapest Summit ... Heaven Help Us

Yes I think it will be a different few days in Budapest. I think I would leave town too.

I think it won't happen. or if it does hopefully someone forces Putin's plane down and arrests him.

If the Presidential Limo is already in Budapest then the meeting will be soon. However, a pre-meeting with the US Secretary of State and the Russian Foreign Minister has been canceled. The EU has also started to object.

Moving the President of the US is not a simple operation. It involves multiple aircraft and hundreds of people.

Technically, Russian aircraft are banned from EU skies but Bulgaria has said they will allow passage of Putin's aircraft for this meeting.

Did you know that the plane we know as "Air Force One" has an exact double that goes just about anywhere Air Force One goes. Afterall, if AF1 has mechanical problems, you can't ask the President to wait for it to be repaired.

Before people get political, this goes for anyone who holds the position of POTUS.

This wasn't meant to be political. Just a warning of possible disruption of normal life. Could be fun or interesting depending on how well one can go with the flow.

Preliminary dates for the Putin-Trump summit in Budapest have become
known. This is reported by Russian Telegram channels, citing a Kremlin
source. According to preliminary data, the meeting of the leaders of
Russia and the US in the Hungarian capital is scheduled for October 30
or 31.

Strangely fitting dates. But i wouldnt put much stock in it given this was the only source I could find. https://reopen.media/en-gb/articles/putin-trump-summit-budapest-preliminary-dates-october-30-31

Budapest is a strangely ironic location given the last agreement that didnt go as expected by Ukraine was called the The Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances.

We were in London as they were preparing for trump. And then, actually, at Windsor the day before his arrival. There were U.S. flags put up everywhere and frequently there were helicopters circling. It was kind of interesting to watch the table being set in the state dining room (or whatever it is called)

I also noticed that suddenly, hours changed or places closed for the visit. In particular, Windsor, Kensington, I believe at least one of the museums was affected.

Overall, the trump visit did not seem to dramatically alter our travels.

A side story, Obama was in town (St. Paul, MN) the weekend of my son's wedding. The president decided he wanted to try some ice cream at a place a couple blocks from the wedding church. This occurred during the rehearsal. So it took folks at least three times longer to travel the typically 20 minute drive to the rehearsal dinner. The motorcade and the fact that the dinner was on the other side of the river from the church made it quite difficult.

During the 2014 NATO summit in South Wales my cousin was in a hospital that fell inside some kind of security area. He was in intensive care with a 50/50 chance of survival but there were still restrictions on his parents crossing the security lines. They had to be on an approved list and go through security every time they visited. It really didn’t help the situation!

Thankfully he is now fine. He started to come round during the summit and one of his first memories is seeing fighter jets fly past the window. In his slightly deluded state he just presumed we were at war and went back to sleep.

According to the BBC, there are now no immediate plans for Trump and Putin to meet.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gjp73gp41o

"Moving the President of the US is not a simple operation. It involves
multiple aircraft and hundreds of people."

My understanding is that there is both an international arrest warrant for Putin for war crimes and a ban on Russian aircraft in European airspace. Finally the BBC article linked above suggests reports of this meeting may be premature.

Happy travels.

Thank you for the news in case this did become actionable travel advice. If it ever becomes confirmed, please start a new thread. I'm closing this to avoid spending any more time culling side comments that can lead to political blowups.