Good morning. Presidents Trump and Putin met for three hours in Alaska yesterday but emerged with no progress to share on the war in Ukraine. “There is no deal until there’s a deal,” Trump said at a news conference afterward. It was Putin’s first face-to-face meeting with an American president since he started the war in 2022. Here’s what you need to know.
A deal? Both men referred to an agreement without detailing what it might be. Trump said he would call NATO officials to update them on the talks, which lasted about half as long as officials had planned. “Many points were agreed to, and there are just a very few that are left,” Trump said. The word “cease-fire” was not mentioned.
Mutual admiration. Putin referred to Trump as his “dear neighbor” and, in a public relations gift, confirmed something Trump often claims: that he would not have attacked Ukraine if Trump had still been in the White House. Trump, in turn, spoke warmly of his friend “Vladimir.”
Breaking protocol. As the summit began, the two presidents rode alone, without aides or interpreters, in Trump’s limousine, a rarity. At the news conference later, Putin spoke first, unusual for a visiting head of state on American soil.
No questions. The presidents exited the stage after shaking hands, ignoring the raised hands of dozens of journalists from both their countries and around the world. That was unusual for Trump, who gave an interview shortly afterward to Fox News in which he put the onus for a cease-fire on Ukraine: “Now it is really up to President Zelensky to get it done.”
Follow-up. Afterward, Zelensky said he “had a long and substantive conversation” with Trump. He’ll visit Washington on Monday to keep talking.
We have more news below. But first: a word from one of our weather journalists. (Melissa Kirsch’s column will be back next week.)
Hurricane Erin
I’m watching this storm a little more closely than usual.
I like to think I’m not a destructive person. A little clumsy, maybe. Not terribly tidy. But not a menace.
Yet a storm bearing my name is the year’s first Atlantic hurricane; it may even become a Category 4. Storms get names, so this isn’t that odd — except that my job is to assign and edit stories about coming storms.
My colleagues have started referring to Human Erin and Storm Erin to keep things straight. “Erin’s raging,” one joked yesterday. “I’m updating Erin,” said another. Wait — the story or the editor?