Trump and Putin’s meeting in Alaska will be a test of their relationship — one Trump previously said was so strong he could end the conflict on his first day in office.
In his first term, President Donald Trump met with Russia’s Vladimir Putin six times but one moment stood out.
It happened in Helsinki, Finland, in 2018 when Trump, standing next to him, suggested he believed Putin’s denial that Russia interfered in the 2016 election over the findings of U.S. intelligence.
At the time, Trump said U.S.-Russia relations had „never been worse“ than before they met but that had „changed.“
Now, Trump is set to hold his first one-on-one meeting with Putin of his second term at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.
The backdrop for Friday’s highly-anticipated summit is a darker one, amid Russia’s relentless onslaught on Ukraine and Putin presenting a frustrating obstacle to Trump’s professed desire to end the war.
The meeting will spotlight their relationship — one that Trump said during the 2024 campaign was so strong he could end the conflict on his first day in office or even before.
„It seems that Donald Trump used to think that he understands Putin well and has a good rapport with him, but over the last few months we’ve seen him alter his position in that regard and actually become more frustrated with Putin. I think he’s becoming more moderated in his expectations about what the meeting can bring“, said Maria Snegovaya, a senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Trump called Putin a „strong leader“ in his first term and a „genius“ shortly after his forces first invaded Ukraine.
