Posted on Monday, August 18, 2025
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by Shane Harris
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President Donald Trump’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday proved that he’s still a master of diplomacy. As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky travels to Washington on Monday, Trump has provided the clearest path yet to peace, even if the corporate media won’t admit it.
When the two world leaders departed Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson in Anchorage last week following a relatively brief meeting, the global media was quick to claim that Trump had failed because no peace deal was announced. Once again, however, the self-appointed “expert” class entirely missed what Trump hoped to accomplish and failed to see the bigger picture.
The first greeting between Trump and Putin following the Russian president’s arrival alone was a stroke of foreign policy genius for which every honest journalist should be commending Trump.
Putin agreed to meet on American soil, a gesture that was itself a tacit acknowledgement that the United States – and Trump specifically – holds the leverage in negotiations. The best that Joe Biden could do was a video call with Putin – perhaps a blessing in disguise given Biden’s frailty. But it’s nonetheless telling that Putin was fine with facing Biden on a screen while he felt compelled to travel thousands of miles to meet with Trump in person.
Then came the visual spectacle of the two men shaking hands and walking down a red carpet before pausing for a few photos. Liberal journalists and media pundits, of course, were apoplectic that Trump should treat a world leader like a world leader.
Here, Trump displayed the characteristic pragmatism that has made him perhaps the most successful foreign policy president in modern history. While most politicians would be all too eager to turn the meeting into an exercise in public humiliation for Putin, Trump wisely understands that there is nothing to gain from that approach. No matter how much Trump (or anyone else, for that matter) may disagree with Putin’s invasion of Ukraine or the way he has conducted the war, disrespecting him is antithetical to Trump’s ultimate goal of ending the war and stopping the killing.
As always, Trump remained laser-focused on that priority throughout the summit. No one on either side realistically expected a peace agreement to come from Friday’s meeting. But a dialogue was opened that has already produced fruit. According to reporting over the weekend, Russia has demanded that Ukraine give up Crimea and agree to never join NATO as part of its conditions for ending the war.
That certainly won’t be what Zelensky and many Ukraine supporters want to hear. But it is at least a starting point – and certainly a far more concrete path toward peace than has existed thus far. Even the fact that both Putin and Zelensky are meeting with Trump within days of one another shows how central Trump will likely be to any peace deal.
Moreover, in the midst of the left’s meltdowns, they missed the powerful message that Trump sent to the world in Alaska. Yes, Putin was walking on a red carpet rolled out by the United States. But he was also forced to walk past rows of carefully arranged F-22 jets, a reminder of America’s ability to project its power anywhere in the world. He then seemed visibly startled as a B-2 flyover shook the sky.
The symbolism here was undoubtedly not lost on Putin, even if it was largely lost on the American media. Putin knows what happened earlier this year when that same stealth bomber eliminated Iran’s nuclear program from 50,000 feet up. Trump brought the leader of Russia face-to-face with American military might just miles from Russian territory. Without saying a word, Trump showed Putin in no uncertain terms that the United States is committed to peace, but that the U.S. could extinguish Russia’s ability to wage war against Ukraine – or any other nation for that matter – very quickly if we so choose.
There has been no shortage of “America is back” moments since Trump took office again earlier this year, but the Alaska summit may be the most definitive one yet. This was something that Joe Biden never could have pulled off. Putin himself acknowledged that there would have been “no war” if Trump were president.
All attention will now turn to Trump’s meeting with Zelensky, who will be joined by other European leaders at the White House. They have thus far refused to budge an inch on ceding any territory to Russia, and this week will likely be no different.
For the first time since the war started, however, it feels like the United States is in the driver’s seat. When Biden was in office, the fear was that American troops would be dragged into open conflict with Russia in a redux of the Cold War. Now, the United States is leading negotiations – and in some sense dictating the terms – and bringing the world closer to peace. For that, Trump deserves all the credit.
Shane Harris is the Editor in Chief of AMAC Newsline. You can follow him on X @shaneharris513.
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