That is too inconvinient. Easier to excuse and deflect. Same with the genocide in Gaza. . . nothing about that is humane or reasonable. It's almost funny to see so many alledgedly care about abortion and protecting human life - and yet the mass slaughter of innocent Palestinian women and children goes by without comment or care. MURICA !!!
Last edited by mgh888; 07/04/2503:32 AM.
The more things change the more they stay the same.
So are some Muslims, agnostics, and athiests, Yet you don't hear any of them or you (not sure which you are) bashing each other or themselves. So why do you comment about Christians, and "that goes by without comment of care."
trump has a phone call with putin. It doesnt go well so he rewards putin by cutting off shipments to Ukraine. What is wrong with this guy? Whatever his reasons are you can be assured it has nothing to do with USA and has everything to do with trump making money.
That is too inconvinient. Easier to excuse and deflect. Same with the genocide in Gaza. . . nothing about that is humane or reasonable. It's almost funny to see so many alledgedly care about abortion and protecting human life - and yet the mass slaughter of innocent Palestinian women and children goes by without comment or care. MURICA !!!
They are pro birth and not pro life. trump just cut almost a trillion dollars from medicaid and over a quarter of a trillion dollars in food assistance. Listen not to what they say but rather watch what they do and what they support.
While Israel slaughters the children of Gaza and Russia slaughters the children of Ukraine, where is their outrage if they're pro life?
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
China tells EU it can’t accept Russia losing its war against Ukraine, official says
Chinese Foreign Minister [censored] Yi told the European Union’s top diplomat that Beijing can’t accept Russia losing its war against Ukraine as this could allow the United States to turn its full attention to China, an official briefed on the talks said, contradicting Beijing’s public position of neutrality in the conflict.
The admission came during what the official said was a four-hour meeting with EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas on Wednesday in Brussels that “featured tough but respectful exchanges, covering a broad range of issues from cyber security, rare earths to trade imbalances, Taiwan and Middle East.”
The official said [censored]’s private remarks suggested Beijing might prefer a protracted war in Ukraine that keeps the United States from focusing on its rivalry with China. They echo concerns of critics of China’s policy that Beijing has geopolitically much more at stake in the Ukrainian conflict than its admitted position of neutrality.
On Friday, at a regular Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs briefing, spokeswoman Mao Ning was asked about the exchange, which was first reported in the South China Morning Post, and re-affirmed Beijing’s long-standing position on the three-year war.
“China is not a party to the Ukraine issue,” Mao said. “China’s position on the Ukraine crisis is objective and consistent, that is, negotiation, ceasefire and peace. A prolonged Ukraine crisis serves no one’s interests.”
She added that China wanted a political settlement as quickly as possible: “Together with the international community and in light of the will of the parties concerned, we will continue playing a constructive role towards this end.”
China’s public statements on the Ukraine war mask a more complex picture.
Just weeks before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Chinese leader Xi Jinping declared a “no limits” partnership with Moscow and since then political and economic ties have strengthened.
China has put itself forward as a possible peacemaker, but as CNN has previously reported the stakes are high for Beijing, not least potentially losing a major partner in Russia.
China has also rejected growing accusations it is providing near-military support to Russia. Ukraine has sanctioned several Chinese companies for providing Russia drone components and technology for use in missile production.
After a record assault on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Friday, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha, posted pictures he said were the fragments of a Geran 2 combat drone launched by Russia. One image displayed part of the drone’s alleged fuselage which said the device was made in China on June 20.
Sybiha added that night the “Chinese Consulate General’s building in Odesa suffered minor damage as a result of Russian strikes on the city. There is no better metaphor for how Putin continues to escalate his war and terror while involving others, including North Korean troops, Iranian weapons, and some Chinese manufacturers. Security in Europe, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific is inextricably linked.”
This year also saw allegations that Chinese nationals have been fighting with Russia in Ukraine. Beijing denied any involvement and repeated previous calls for Chinese citizens to “refrain from participating in military actions of any party.”
I'm not sure if it's okay to post our president saying BS or not. But if not it seems odd that he can spew it on national TV but we can't post it here. Ever since he decided to say the F bomb to the national press core where are the lines now?.........
So does this mean he has finally figured out that a former high ranking KGB agent hasn't been telling the truth? Something most all of us, including many Republicans have known all along? Does this mean he now finally understands that Putin isn't the good guy?
His response to who stopped weapons from being shipped to Ukraine last week was, "Why don't you tell me?"
Three hundred billion dollars?
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Trump-Putin summit in Alaska resembles a slow defeat for Ukraine
Location matters, former real estate mogul US President Donald Trump said. Moments later he announced Alaska, a place sold by Russia to the United States 158 years ago for $7.2 million, would be where Russian President Vladimir Putin tries to sell his land deal of the century, getting Kyiv to hand over chunks of land he’s not yet been able to occupy.
The conditions around Friday’s summit so wildly favor Moscow, it is obvious why Putin leapt at the chance, after months of fake negotiation, and it is hard to see how a deal emerges from the bilateral that does not eviscerate Ukraine. Kyiv and its European allies have reacted with understandable horror at the early ideas of Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, that Ukraine cede the remainders of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in exchange for a ceasefire.
Naturally, the Kremlin head has promoted the idea of taking ground without a fight, and found a willing recipient in the form of Witkoff, who has in the past exhibited a relaxed grasp of Ukrainian sovereignty and the complexity of asking a country, in the fourth year of its invasion, to simply walk out of towns it’s lost thousands of men defending.
It is worth pausing and reflecting on what Witkoff’s proposal would look like. Russia is close to encircling two key Donetsk towns, Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka, and may effectively put Ukrainian troops defending these two hubs under siege in the coming weeks. Ceding these two towns might be something Kyiv does anyway to conserve manpower in the months ahead.
The rest of Donetsk – principally the towns of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk – is a much nastier prospect. Thousands of civilians live there now, and Moscow would delight at scenes where the towns evacuate, and Russian troops walk in without a shot fired.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s rejection of ceding land early Saturday reflects the real dilemma of a commander in chief trying to manage the anger of his military and the deep-seated distrust of the Ukrainian people towards their neighbor, who continues to bombard their cities nightly.
What could Ukraine get back in the “swapping” Trump referred to? Perhaps the tiny slivers of border areas occupied by Russia in Sumy and Kharkiv regions – part of Putin’s purported “buffer zone” – but not much else, realistically.
The main goal is a ceasefire, and that itself is a stretch. Putin has long held that the immediate ceasefire demanded by the United States, Europe and Ukraine for months, is impossible as technical work about monitoring and logistics must take place first. He is unlikely to have changed his mind now his troops are in the ascendancy across the eastern frontline.
Europe is also wary of mirroring the failure of former UK Foreign Secretary Neville Chamberlain to stand up to Nazi Germany in 1938 – of the worthlessness of a “piece of paper” signed by a Kremlin that has repeatedly agreed to deals in Ukraine and then simply used the pause to regroup before invading again.
To his credit, Putin has made it clear what he wants from the start: all of Ukraine subjugated or occupied and a strategic reset with the US that involves it dropping Kyiv like a stone. His aide, Yury Ushakov, spoke of Alaska being a great place to talk economic cooperation between Washington and Moscow, and suggested a return summit in Russia had already been proposed.
There is a risk we see bonhomie between Trump and Putin that allows the US president to tolerate more technical meetings between their staffers on the what and when of any ceasefire deal. A plan about land swaps or grabs that is wholly in Moscow’s favor, might then be presented to Kyiv, with the old US ultimatums about aid and intelligence sharing being contingent on their accepting the deal that we have seen before. Cue French President Emmanuel Macron on the phone to Trump again, and around we go. Putin needs more time to continue to conquer and he is about to get it.
What has changed since the last time Trump found his thinking dragged somehow back towards Russia’s orbit, around the time of the Oval Office blowout with Zelensky? Two elements are there now that were absent then.
Firstly, we cannot ignore that India and China – the former risking 25% tariffs in two weeks and the latter still waiting to learn what damage it’ll suffer – were on the phone to the Kremlin in the past days. They might have provided some impetus for Putin to meet Trump, or at least provide more lip service to diplomacy again, and may be concerned at their energy imports being compromised by Trump’s secondary sanctions.
But Putin cannot have needed much persuading to agree to a formal invitation to the US to have the bilateral meeting his team have long held out as the way towards peace in Ukraine. And another sanctions deadline of Friday has just whizzed past, almost unnoticed in the kerfuffle about Alaska and land deals.
Secondly, Trump claims his thinking around Putin has evolved. “Disappointed,” “disgusting,” “tapping me along” are all newcomers to his lexicon about the Kremlin head. While Trump appears effortlessly able to stop himself causing genuine pain to Moscow, allowing threats and deadlines to fall lifeless around him, he is surrounded by allies and Republicans who will remind him of how far down these roads he has gone before.
Much could go right. But the stage is set for something more sinister. Consider Putin’s mindset for a moment. The third Trump threat of sanctions has evaporated, and his forces are moving into a period of strategic gain on the frontlines. He’s got his first invitation to the US in a decade to talk peace about Ukraine without Ukraine, discussing a deal where he doesn’t even have to fight to get some of the rest of the land he wants. And this is before the former KGB spy gets to work his apparent magic on Trump.
Friday is six days away, but even at this distance resembles slow defeat for Kyiv.
Russia and the United States have discussed Israel’s occupation of the West Bank as a model for ending the war in Ukraine, The Times has been told.
Under this scenario Russia would have military and economic control of occupied Ukraine under its own governing body, imitating Israel’s de facto rule of Palestinian territory seized from Jordan in 1967.
The idea was raised weeks ago in discussions between Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s peace envoy, and his Russian counterparts, according to a source close to the US national security council.
Witkoff, who is also tasked by Trump with bringing peace to the Middle East, is understood to support the idea, which the Americans believe circumvents barriers in the Ukrainian constitution to ceding territory without holding an “all-Ukraine” referendum.
President Zelensky has refused to countenance handing over land but the occupation model may be a mechanism to allow for a truce after three and a half years of war.
I didn't read the article, so feel free to flame if I'm off-base (when I have time later today I'll read the article and modify my argument as necessary).
Anyone who sees the West Bank as a model to copy should be kept as far away from any decision-making as possible.
Seriously... name one thing in that whole dumpster fire that we'd want to do again.
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
In what world would an American president ever think he has the ability or the right to negotiate a peace deal for a nation who is not even allowed in that negotiation or a seat at the table?
It would certainly not surprise me if trump met with Putin, announced he made a great deal with Putin while giving Russia massive concessions and then blamed Zelenskyy because he simply can not accept a deal like that. In the end it seems logical Putin will once again manipulate trump into blaming Ukraine for everything.
If Putin could manipulate trump into believing his word over our own national security this should be a piece of cake for Putin.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Trump still claims Ukraine started the war after it was Russia that invaded them. And of course he has no idea of the concept that anything has to be approved by congress because he circumvents that with a stroke of his pen.
Why am I not surprised he is slamming Zelenskyy for following his nation's constitution? Who appointed trump the right to speak to Putin for Ukraine again? Oh that's right, he did.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Why am I not surprised he is slamming Zelenskyy for following his nation's constitution?
Because he has always believed that "following rules" are for suckers and losers- and he was trained to look down on suckers and losers.
His pathology has been on display for more than 40 years, due to his incessant, obsessive need to be in the headlines. It's indelibly baked into his psyche.
His own behavior in the office of POTUS tells us exactly who he is. He relies on the Emergency Powers Act to press forth his agenda, circumventing the standard steps proscribed by the Constitution. He hates anyone who has the ear of their constituents, derived by less than shady means.
Honest love/support for good deeds done well in good faith are like garlic to a vampire with this dude... because they represent the opposite of what he is/has always been.
I remember the last time POTUS negotiated a deal without having the head of the country (where the war is being fought) involved directly.
It did not go well.
That's factually incorrect. It went extremely well for Trump. Better than he ever could have hoped for.
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
If Trump was half as tough as he claims to be he would bitch slap Putin to an inch of his death and hang him for mass murder on the global stage. He’d be a world hero.
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Thomas Jefferson.
I'm curious to see your reaction after you've been shot.I'd be willing to bet you would not jump up and yell fight,fight,fight.You internet tough guys truely are impressive.
I haven’t commented too substantively on the topic…somewhat because I’m waiting to see what happens to the talks and also because POTUS has been waffling so damn much since his term started as to who’s at fault and/or what he’ll do.
That being said, this was the right move to kick the talks off. I just hope he doesn’t F up on the actual substance. Zelenskyy should also be involved.
Last edited by dawglover05; 08/15/2504:08 PM.
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
I'm curious to see your reaction after you've been shot.I'd be willing to bet you would not jump up and yell fight,fight,fight.You internet tough guys truely are impressive.
So your excuse is he thinks Putin will try to assassinate him?
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Putin, largely isolated by the EU and much of the world, was just handed a global stage—complete with a red-carpet welcome and even kneeling from U.S. military personnel as they laid the red carpet 🤮🤮. Trump’s bluster before the meeting led to… absolutely nothing. No ceasefire, no peace, no accountability.
European leaders and analysts weren’t subtle in their criticism:
Wolfgang Ischinger, Germany’s former ambassador to the U.S., called it a win for Putin: *"Trump got nothing. No real progress—just a 1-0 for Russia. No sanctions, no gains for Ukraine, and deep disappointment for Europe."*
Sergey Radchenko, Cold War historian, noted: "Putin walked away with something for nothing. At least Trump didn’t fully sell out Ukraine."
Oleksandr Merezhko, head of Ukraine’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee, accused Trump of adopting Putin’s stance by sidelining any push for a truce.
But here’s what’s telling: Look at who was in the room—and who wasn’t. Ukraine was excluded, while key financial and economic figures took center stage. On the U.S. side, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross were present; Russia brought along Anton Siluanov (Finance Minister) and Maxim Oreshkin (Economic Development Minister).
Hard to ignore the subtext: This wasn’t about defending an ally. It was about backroom deals, money, and mutual gain—while Ukraine pays the price. Trump has continued to echo the Putin lie that Ukraine started the war - he talked about how great a power Russia is and their great soldiers while telling Ukraine they needed to accept any deal as they aren't a great power. 🤮
Last edited by mgh888; 08/16/2508:51 AM.
The more things change the more they stay the same.
In your zeal to control all topics you do miss most of the substance of what people say.
You made a statement that many of our veterans defy every day. Many of them have served several tours of duty that involved going into battle on multiple deployments. They return from battle and join police forces across the country. The president is the head of the military.
Quote
I'm curious to see your reaction after you've been shot.I'd be willing to bet you would not jump up and yell fight,fight,fight.
And many of them had more than a nicked ear. Many of them also witnessed their fellow soldiers be shot and die. Stop making excuses for the things you post.
I didn't miss a damned thing.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
WASHINGTON/MOSCOW/KYIV (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Ukraine should make a deal to end the war with Russia because "Russia is a very big power, and they're not", after a summit where Vladimir Putin was reported to have demanded more Ukrainian land.
Government papers found in an Alaskan hotel reveal new details of Trump-Putin summit Updated August 16, 20251:56 PM ET Headshot of Chiara Eisner Chiara Eisner
President Trump (right) and Russia's President Vladimir Putin arrive for a joint press conference at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, on Friday. President Donald Trump, right, Russia's President Vladimir Putin arrive for a joint press conference at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Jae C. Hong/AP Papers with U.S. State Department markings, found Friday morning in the business center of an Alaskan hotel, revealed previously undisclosed and potentially sensitive details about the Aug. 15 meetings between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir V. Putin in Anchorage.
Eight pages, that appear to have been produced by U.S. staff and left behind accidentally, shared precise locations and meeting times of the summit and phone numbers of U.S. government employees.
At around 9 a.m. on Friday, three guests at Hotel Captain Cook, a four-star hotel located 20 minutes from the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage where leaders from the U.S. and Russia convened, found the documents left behind in one of the hotel's public printers. NPR reviewed photos of the documents taken by one of the guests, who NPR agreed not to identify because the guest said they feared retaliation.
Pictures of two documents about the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska that were found in a public hotel printer in Anchorage. Pictures of two documents about the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska that were found in a public hotel printer in Anchorage.
NPR The first page in the printed packet disclosed the sequence of meetings for August 15, including the specific names of the rooms inside the base in Anchorage where they would take place. It also revealed that Trump intended to give Putin a ceremonial present.
Sponsor Message
"POTUS to President Putin," the document states, "American Bald Eagle Desk Statue."
On Saturday, White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly dismissed the papers as a "multi-page lunch menu" and suggested leaving the information on a public printer was not a security breach. The U.S. Department of State did not respond to requests for comment.
Pages 2 through 5 of the documents listed the names and phone numbers of three U.S. staff members as well as the names of 13 U.S. and Russian state leaders. The list provided phonetic pronouncers for all the Russian men expected at the summit, including "Mr. President POO-tihn."
Pages 6 and 7 in the packet described how lunch at the summit would be served, and for whom. A menu included in the documents indicated that the luncheon was to be held "in honor of his excellency Vladimir Putin."
A seating chart shows that Putin and Trump were supposed to sit across from each other during the luncheon. Trump would be flanked by six officials: Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles to his right, and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Special Envoy for Peace Missions Steve Witkoff to his left. Putin would be seated immediately next to his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, and his Aide to the President for Foreign Policy, Yuri Ushakov.
Sponsor Message
During the summit Friday, lunch was apparently cancelled. But it was intended to be a simple, three-course meal, the documents showed. After a green salad, the world leaders would dine on filet mignon and halibut olympia. Crème brûlée would be served for dessert.
Ukraine invasion — explained Ukraine invasion — explained Jon Michaels, a professor of law at UCLA who lectures about national security, said that the documents found in the printer of the Alaskan hotel reveal a lapse in professional judgement in preparation for a high-stakes meeting.
"It strikes me as further evidence of the sloppiness and the incompetence of the administration," said Michaels. "You just don't leave things in printers. It's that simple."
The printed papers are the latest example of a series of security breaches by officials of the Trump administration. Earlier this week, members of a law enforcement group chat that included members of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) added a random person to a conversation about an ongoing search for a convicted attempted murderer. In March, U.S. national security leaders accidentally included a journalist in a group chat about impending military strikes in Yemen.
In POTUS 45, there were professionals around to protect against things like this. From Generals appointed to cabinet posts, to career employees who worked for every admin, sometimes for 30+ years. They did their jobs.
In POTUS 47, we now see what it looks like when he surrounds himself with 'yesfolk.'
As he gets older and more mentally infirm, expect a growing cascade of stories like this. It's not just him; it's also the level of incompetency of those who have been brought into his orbit. FOX News personalities should be hosting FOX news shows- not running top-level posts in America's government.
Total disclosure: I've been politically awake since my high school years. I've lived under Dem and Rep admins all my life. Nixon. Carter. Reagan. Bush 1. Clinton. Bush 2. Obama.
... and never before, have I had so much to say about politics as I do these days. But then again, we've never seen a presidency that ever looked like this. Sheer insanity- being normalized with each passing day.
In term #1, he purged the adults from the room. In term #2, he's surrounded himself with enablers/sycophants/amateurs. With an invertebrate congress/cabinet too limp to Article 25 his ass- when his mental state is on full display for all the world to see- what should we expect for the next 3.5 years?
Hire a clown; expect a circus. Circus address: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Who knows what thrills, chills and spills are in store for our country?
Clem has a chronic case of "TDS:" Trump Disclosure Service. I'm OK with that diagnosis. Raise my hand first in the crowd, when called.
_______________
People: it's only going to get worse... because there is no way he's ever going to get better. Not at his age. Not at this rate of decline.
And... for anyone who feels the need to knee-jerk a "But Biden" response to me- save your wasted CO². Biden was one-and-done. Dems ended him before he even had a chance at a 2.0. There is currently no one in the GOP who would ever help an initiative like this, no matter how much his cognitive processes deteriorate. This d00d's at the very start of his twofer, and he's like:
He's the eye of a perfect storm for America's loss of premiere standing on the world stage. It will take at least a generation of new politics to undo what has happened in just 7 short months.
I never imagined something like this in my entire life- until 2016. Now, it's a daily reality that I can't un-imagine.
People: it's only going to get worse... because there is no way he's ever going to get better. Not at his age. Not at this rate of decline.
Ouch—this really hit home for me, and I think you’re right. That’s what makes it such a scary realization to accept.
Like many, I was never a Trump fan, But while his first term was a circus it didn't appear to do any long term, permanent systematic damage to the nation. But to me the most telling takeaway for me wasn’t the chaos and buffoonery — it was the people inside his administration, the "adults in the room," who later came out and said, "This man is unfit for office." .... None of them more significant than the toady that is Bill Barr: a far-right loyalist who got his job by pledging fealty to Trump. He was such a sycophant he lied relentlessly to shield Trump from the Mueller report, spinning narratives to protect. And yet, he now says Trump should never hold power again. If someone that deeply embedded in Trump’s machinery, who was undoubtedly far 'right' - and warns he’s dangerous, how does anyone still ignore it?
Biden/Harris may not have been everyone’s ideal choice, something of a poison pill, but nothing compares to the disaster unfolding in Trump Term 2 (TT2). What we’re seeing now is truly disasterous. To use the MAGA playbook - what we are seeing is deeply unamerican :
ICE running rogue, detaining citizens without cause, fast-tracking deportations to El Salvador with no due process. Due process is too inconvinient so forget about it!
Economic chaos from knee-jerk tariffs, tha can do nothing but fuel inflation globally while creting a self inflicted wound. It will eventually slow down the economy - unless we continue this radnom pattern of relaxing tariffs or pausing them etc.
Coddling dictators—rolling out the red carpet for Putin, lying about Ukraine’s war origins, and publicly humiliating Zelensky.
Ruling by "101" executive orders, bypassing checks and balances by declaring fake "emergencies" to rule by decree. King Trump.
The DOGE disaster, a policy fiasco that will trigger global suffering—whether through AIDS funding cuts or starvation crises. Mass firings - then shortly later mass re-hires because they got it wrong, again and again.
MAGA had a conspiracy theory about the Deep State and then the alleged weaponizing of the justice department - but here we are in real time with Trump relentlessly using his administration to go after, punish or humilate individuals who opposed him.
And let’s not ignore the Epstein stench — a huge hot button issue that Trump all of a sudden wanted to be a non-story. Interview with Ghislaine Maxwell followed by an unexplained and suspicious transfer to low-security prison... why does a monster deserve special treatment?
It’s a breakdown of democracy, and it’s happening in real time.
The more things change the more they stay the same.
President Donald Trump has sought to present his recent summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin as a constructive encounter, but several inside accounts and media analyses suggest otherwise.
Analysts highlighted how Putin managed to shift U.S. policy rhetoric toward a broader “peace agreement," a move that aligned with Kremlin narratives — without offering any tangible concessions, giving him symbolic and diplomatic gains at U.S. expense.
On The Daily Beast Podcast Saturday, Trump biographer Michael Wolff said a close aide texted him simply: “F--- --.”
Wolff concluded that Trump emerged from the meeting in Alaska clearly disadvantaged, a sentiment seemingly shared by those inside his circle. “Trump got f--- --,” he said.
“We got nothing out of this," Wolff said. "This is, you know, this is really, really a loss for Trump, and potentially a loss for Ukraine.”
The summit began with direct and symbolic gestures. U.S. airmen rolled out a red carpet and fighter jets and a B‑2 bomber performed a flyover as Putin arrived at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. Trump and Putin shook hands and exchanged smiles before the U.S. president invited the Russian leader into the presidential limousine, “The Beast,” where they waved to onlookers.
Following the conclusion of their Anchorage summit, both leaders made succinct joint remarks at the base. Trump called the outcome “very productive” but said that key issues remained unresolved and that no formal agreement had been reached.
In later interviews, he shifted focus onto Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders, urging them to broker a peace deal.
When asked what Trump received in return for such optics, Wolff said, “Practically nothing."
He added: “It was a failure.”
The Trump biographer recalled his pre-summit threats. “If we don’t get a deal, I’m going to walk away. I’m going to do tariffs. I’m going to do, you know, all of this.” — none of which were carried out.
Instead, Trump “basically embraced Vladimir Putin," according to Wolff.
Blue ostriches on crack float on milkshakes between the sidewalk titans of gurglefitz. --YTown
As I said before the meeting, the last time these two met Putin convinced trump to believe him over our own intelligence community. How could anyone believe this time would turn out any different? It's what to be expected when you match a buffoon against a former KGB agent and spy.........................
'No going into Nato by Ukraine,' says Trump as Zelensky prepares for White House talks
Donald Trump has said the Ukrainian president can end Russia's war "if he wants to", but there will be "no going into Nato by Ukraine" as part of a peace deal.
Hours before he was due to host Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, Trump also said there would be "no getting back" the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, eight years before launching its full-scale invasion.
Trump's remarks follow his summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska that resulted in the US president dropping a demand for a ceasefire and calling instead for a permanent peace deal.
After arriving in the US late on Sunday, Zelensky repeated his call for allies' effective security guarantees.
A US envoy said on Sunday that Putin had agreed to a possible Nato-like security pact for Ukraine.
The Russian president has consistently opposed the idea of Ukraine joining the military alliance.
Deadly Russian attacks on Ukrainian towns and cities continued hours before the summit in Washington - killing at least 10 people, including children.
In the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, at least seven people were killed after a Russian drone hit an apartment block, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. At least three were killed in Zaporizhzhia, officials said.
Zelensky described the attacks as a "demonstrative and cynical Russian strike" in a post on X.
"Putin will commit demonstrative killings to maintain pressure on Ukraine and Europe, as well as to humiliate diplomatic efforts. That is precisely why we are seeking assistance to put an end to the killings," he said.
Earlier, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, saying: "President Zelensky of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight.
"Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!" Trump added.
The president's assertion is untrue: At least two Ukrainian soldiers are known to have been shot dead by Russian forces in Crimea in 2014.
The Ukrainian naval vessel Cherkasy, a minesweeper, was also attacked by Russian forces when trying to leave the area.
Before Trump's return to power in January, Nato countries agreed on Kyiv's "irreversible path" to membership in the alliance.
Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, alongside European leaders including UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, will join Zelensky in Washington for talks on Ukraine's future on Monday.
Also attending are French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. It is unclear how many of them will go to the White House.
Trump later added: "Big day at the White House tomorrow. Never had so many European Leaders at one time. My great honor to host them!!!"
Zelensky posted on social media saying he was "grateful" for Trump's invitation. "We all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably".
He also doubled down on the need for effective security guarantees from allies, "not like it was years ago... when Ukraine was given so called 'security guarantees' in 1994 but they didn't work".
"Of course, Crimea should not have been given up then," he added. "Just as Ukrainians did not give up Kyiv, Odesa, or Kharkiv after 2022".
For so many heads of state to travel with such little notice across the Atlantic to what is essentially a wartime crisis meeting appears without precedent in the modern era, underscoring the sky-high stakes.
Diplomatic sources say European officials are concerned that Trump may try to press Zelensky to agree to terms, after the Ukrainian leader was excluded from the Trump-Putin meeting on US soil last Friday.
But US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the BBC's US partner CBS that any suggestion Zelensky might be bullied by Trump into accepting a peace deal was a "stupid media narrative".
Nato leaders also appear eager to avoid a repeat of Zelensky's February trip to the Oval Office that ended abruptly after an argument with Trump and US Vice-President JD Vance.
The altercation - which saw Trump accuse Zelensky of "gambling with World War Three" - left Washington-Kyiv ties in tatters.
But European leaders have been working diligently behind the scenes since then to mend the relationship. The Ukrainian leader has been coached to talk in terms of deal-making - language that resonates with Trump.
In April, Ukraine signed a minerals agreement that gave the US a financial stake in the country, and Trump and Zelensky spoke privately at the Vatican before Pope Francis's funeral. Ukraine made clear it was willing to pay for US weapons.
By July, the two leaders had a phone call that the Ukrainian president described as "the best conversation we have had".
Meanwhile, Trump had begun to express exasperation with Russia's unrelenting onslaught in Ukraine. He called Putin "absolutely crazy", drastically shortened his deadline for a peace deal, and threatened economic sanctions on Moscow.
As these deliberations grind on, Russian forces continue to advance on the battlefield. They now occupy almost a fifth of Ukraine since Moscow launched its full scale invasion in February 2022.
A virtual summit was held on Sunday between Zelensky and the so-called coalition of the willing - a group of nations including the UK, France and Germany that have pledged to protect peace in Ukraine once it is achieved.
Afterwards, Emmanuel Macron told reporters their plan was to "present a united front" for Monday's talks with Trump.
Zelensky and the Nato leaders said they were keen to learn more after US envoy Steve Witkoff told US television that Putin had agreed on Friday to "robust security guarantees that I would describe as game-changing".
Witkoff said such an agreement could see Europe and the US protect Ukraine from further aggression with a Nato-like defence agreement.
"We were able to win the following concession: that the United States could offer Article 5-like protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in Nato," Witkoff told CNN on Sunday.
Putin has long opposed Ukraine joining Nato, and Witkoff said the arrangement could be an alternative if the Ukrainians "can live with it".
Article 5 is a principle at the heart of the 32-member transatlantic military alliance that says its members will come to the defence of an ally that is under attack.
Witkoff also told CNN that Russia made "some concessions" around five heavily contested regions of Ukraine.
In talks with European allies after the Alaska summit, Trump said Putin had reiterated that he wants the key Donetsk and Luhansk regions that make up Donbas, eastern Ukraine, according to European officials.
But at Sunday's virtual summit with Nato leaders, Zelensky stressed that the Ukrainian constitution makes it impossible to give up territory - and that this should only be discussed by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia at a trilateral summit with the US.
The US secretary of state, meanwhile, sought to temper hopes that a deal to end Europe's deadliest conflict for 80 years could be imminent.
"We're still a long ways off," Rubio said on Sunday.
Trump has given many concessions that Putin wants to him before peace talks with Ukraine have even begun. That's not how negotiations are supposed to work. Art of the Deal my azz.
Trump says Zelensky can stop the war if he wants to? Sure, by giving Putin everything he wants. It appears he can't ""Remember how it started."
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Meeting today at the White House and what appears to be damn near all of Europe. The topic appears to be Ukraine war.
FWIW, I don't think Friday's summit was a loss at all. I think it's TBD. Nothing was gained and nothing was lost. Now we have a hastily-assembled meeting between Trump and Zelensky, and VZ is bringing Europe with him.
I'll say one thing, I'm glad Europe appears to be finally growing a pair. I do think Trump playing hardball with them had a lot to do with this.
Last edited by oobernoober; 08/18/2510:07 AM.
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
From fairly close hand experience of being in EU for a while now - I can tell you that my opinion (and that of many) is that Europe getting tougher and grwing a pair has more to do with Trump parroting Putin propaganda than Trump playing hardball with anyone. If you want to give Trump credit for something to do with Europe it would be to highlight and drag into the light the NATO members under commiting to their previous spending agreements. That deserves Kudos ... Ukraine? Trump gets an F from me on multiple counts.
Edit - to add, regards EU and their visit to Trump. It's interesting, EU wants to be tough with Russia. Remember UK and France committing to put troops into Ukraine which Vance/Trump then poo-poo'd? Basically EU wants to get tough with Putin but is also trying to pander to the spoiled brat and oversized ego that is Donald Trump. Trump wants the limelight, credit and a nobel peace prize more than he wants peace or to see EU make a difference and end the war without him. EU and it's leaders know this and it is a difficult balancing act.
** Second edit - I heard on the radio today that the amount of land Russia has "gained" is about 20% of all Ukraine. To put that into perspective for people saying "End the war give them the land" .... this would be like someone (China) taking Texas, California, Montana, and Arizona and then we just say 'okay - keep it all as long as you stop the war'.
Also on the same radio segment - Russia has relentlessly targeted and decimated areas that were previously pro-Russia. That sentiment has been obliterated since estimates that 93% of the various cities have been leveled together with enormous civilian casualties. Also worth noting - Last free and clear election in Ukraine had Zelensky (a Jew) with nearly 74%of the vote. He's not perfect but he's got a bigger majority than any other western leader. I'd guess that support has only grown.
Last edited by mgh888; 08/18/2511:08 AM.
The more things change the more they stay the same.
