There is a joke I heard a long time ago about Khrushchev and Hungary’s communist leader Kádár going bear hunting. It seems perfectly appropriate to retell using Putin and Trump instead, especially in light of their meeting and, ahem, spectacular press conference in Helsinki today.
Putin and Trump go hunting. They shoot a bear. On their way back to the hunting lodge, they stop at a McDonalds for Trump to grab a burger. Putin stays outside. When Trump gets back to their pickup truck, the bear is gone.
“Vladimir, where is the bear?” asks Trump.
“What bear?” responds Putin.
Trump looks perplexed. “You see, we just went hunting, right?”
“Right,” says Putin.
“And we went up this hill, right?”
“Right,” says Putin.
“And then we spotted a bear, didn’t we?”
“That we did,” says Putin.
“Which we then shot.”
“We shot him dead alright.”
“And then we put him on the truck.”
“We did indeed,” confirms Putin.
“And then we stopped here at this McDonalds. I went in, and you stayed outside with the bear, right?”
“That is indeed so,” says Putin.
“So then, where the devil is the bear?” asks Trump.
“What bear?” responds Putin.