ANCHORAGE, Alaska – President Donald Trump’s self-described “high stakes” summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin ended as abruptly as it was announced – and without a deal for peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Here are five takeaways from Friday’s hourslong summit at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, the pair’s first of Trump’s second administration and the first between a United States and Russian president since Putin started his war against Ukraine in 2022.
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‘NO DEAL UNTIL THERE’S A DEAL’: TRUMP SUMS UP PUTIN MEETING IN SURPRISINGLY BRIEF PRESS CONFERENCE
1. Putin leapfrogs Trump in speaking order
Trump permitted Putin to open the press conference that closed the summit, an expected detour from traditional diplomacy.
“I expect that today’s agreement will be the starting point, not only for the solution of the Ukrainian nation, but also will help us bring back businesslike and pragmatic relations between Russia and the U.S.,” Putin said.
Russia, too, pipped the U.S. in providing the first read-out of the three-hour meeting between Trump, Putin, their top diplomats, and closest foreign policy advisers, describing the meeting as “excellent.”
Trump followed Putin’s remarks but downplayed the prospect of a peace deal, telling reporters he needed to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his NATO counterparts first.
2. Trump laments the “Russia hoax”
Despite Trump permitting Putin to speak first, he took his opportunity to complain about what he calls the “Russia hoax,” or allegations that Russia tried to help him win the 2016 election.
“We were interfered with by the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax that made it a little bit tougher to deal with, but [Putin] understood it,” Trump said. “We had to put up with the Russia, Russia, Russia, hoax. [Putin] knew it was a hoax, and I knew it was a hoax. What was done was criminal.”
Trump has claimed political redemption after his Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, last month declassified documents regarding Russia’s role in the 2016 election that undermine intelligence accusations that Russia was attempting to help Trump win.
Gabbard released documents indicating that former President Barack Obama’s top intelligence officials manufactured intelligence to undercut Trump, which helped launch former special counsel Robert Mueller’s federal Russia investigation.
3. Trump loops in allies
Trump, who has been an unpredictable ally in the past, appeared to take pains to be more dependable for Ukraine and NATO. He repeated that he did not want to negotiate on Zelensky’s behalf and previewed that he would speak with him and his European counterparts after the summit.
“There’s no deal until there’s a deal. I will call up NATO in a little while,” Trump said. “I will call up the various people that I think are appropriate, and I’ll, of course, call up President Zelensky and tell him about today’s meeting. It’s ultimately up to them.”
Trump’s comments can be compared to his and Vice President JD Vance’s tense meeting with Zelensky in the White House’s Oval Office in February.
“Have you said thank you once?” Vance asked Zelensky at the time.
4. Trump flexes military might, rolls out red carpets
Trump demonstrated his love of pomp and circumstance by rolling out red carpets for Putin, while simultaneously demonstrating the U.S.’s military might with an aerial display of B-2s, F-22s, and F-35s as Trump and Putin posed for photographs on a podium set up on the air bases’ tarmac.
In addition, Trump extended an invitation to Putin to accompany him from their respective planes to the summit site in his presidential limousine, the Beast. The two men were unaccompanied by aides, only a driver and one U.S. Secret Service agent, even though Putin had his own car nearby.
5. Putin wants Trump in Moscow
During their press conference, in which Trump and Putin declined to answer questions, Trump concluded his opening remarks by thanking Putin for coming to Anchorage and saying he would “probably see you again very soon.”
“Next time, in Moscow,” Putin said.
Trump responded: “Oh, that’s an interesting one. I don’t know, I’ll get a little heat on that one, but I could see it possibly happening.”
Putin’s trip to Alaska was his first to the U.S. since 2015. He was visiting a city equidistant between Washington and Moscow in a state once considered part of Russia before the then-Russian Empire sold it to the U.S. in 1868.
Read more from the Washington Examiner on the Trump-Putin meeting: