Former U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Alaska this past week, but their discussions did not produce the cease-fire in Ukraine that many had been watching for. Instead, the two leaders appeared most aligned in their shared criticism of President Joe Biden.
Both in private talks and in front of cameras in Anchorage, Trump and Putin pointed fingers at Biden for the war in Ukraine. This narrative sidestepped the reality that it was Putin who ordered Russian forces across the border more than three years ago and continues to direct attacks on civilian areas.
Putin argued that Biden had failed to meet Russian demands before the full-scale invasion. Playing to Trump’s ego, he reportedly agreed that the conflict would never have started if Trump had remained in office in 2022. According to Trump, Putin even went as far as to endorse his false claim that Democrats “stole” the 2020 election.
Speaking afterward in an interview on Fox News, Trump said Putin now “respects” the United States, something he claimed was lacking during Biden’s presidency. “I was so happy when he said this would have never happened. All those lives would be saved if we had a competent president,” Trump said.
While the summit itself dominated headlines, another story gained traction: a set of administration papers that were reportedly left behind. NPR described the documents as containing sensitive information, including detailed schedules and the direct phone numbers of several U.S. officials.
The White House and State Department sought to downplay the issue. Officials dismissed the papers as nothing more than a “multipage lunch menu,” arguing they did not represent a security breach. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott criticized NPR’s reporting, saying the outlet should have focused on “the historic steps toward peace” instead of paperwork.
Even so, experts raised eyebrows at the apparent oversight. Eliot A. Cohen, who served as a counselor at the State Department during the Bush administration, called the incident both “sloppy” and “incompetent.” He argued that it reflected poor internal processes, though he agreed the papers did not appear to reveal military or top-level secrets.
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