That was a very short press conference. So how did the meeting go between Trump and Putin in Alaska? I’m not a psychoanalyst. I’m not an expert in body language. I’m a political and cultural theorist. We all now, however, are probably studying both Trump and Putin because we have to.
The Meeting Details
Putin flew into Alaska and had a stately welcome—red carpet, stealth fighter flyover. He got to travel with Trump in his armored car, “the Beast.” And then they talked. No reporters were allowed.
Strangely, it wasn’t just Trump and Putin, but also with their teams—not one-on-one, but with staff. The meeting lasted about 3 hours, and then they came out for a 12-minute press conference.
Reading the Room
When you saw Trump walk into the room, you could see that something was wrong. Trump didn’t look happy. He had the face of someone for whom things didn’t go well. He had to force himself to be nice toward Putin and smile a little, but it looked forced.
Putin talked for eight minutes and made flattering comments. Now, I know Trump wants to be respected. Trump wants to hear people say nice things about him, but I know people like Trump—they want to hear this, but they don’t want to keep hearing it because after a while it starts sounding manipulative.
If you think Trump is stupid, remind yourself he won two elections. He has survived all kinds of business upheaval. He is not necessarily an intellectual, but he has emotional intelligence. He knows how to read people, how to manipulate people, and how to get things done. Again, he’s not an intellectual, but he is not stupid.
Putin talked for eight minutes, took over, and Trump let him talk. Putin didn’t say anything Trump wanted to hear—you saw that in his face. I’m not sure Trump was charmed by that.
Trump’s Motivations
I understand why Trump wanted to meet Putin in person, because Trump is someone who needs to read people in the room. He’s one of those people who needs to see everything. He can read people very well, it seems. I think what he saw he didn’t like, and I think what he heard he didn’t like.
Now I wasn’t there—I’m just speculating. I’m just looking at the man. I’m looking at Trump, who wants nothing more than to be recognized for being a peacemaker. He has said this so many times. He has the clear aim to outdo Obama and actually be rewarded with a Nobel Peace Prize.
Remember, he’s done the Abraham Accords. He just inserted himself positively into India-Pakistan, Armenia-Azerbaijan, Thailand-Laos, Rwanda-Congo. I don’t care why he does this. I don’t care whether it’s genuine. I don’t need to know what’s in his heart. All I need to know is: is he getting stuff done?
The Ukraine Problem
So he would like to get Ukraine-Russia done. He can’t, because he knows—has been told several times—that Ukraine can’t just give in and that Europe won’t let Ukraine just give in, because Europe is next and actually America is next too.
Putin even said something that could be understood as mildly threatening at the beginning of that press conference. He has gangster humor. Putin has psychopath humor. And him inviting Trump for the next talks to Moscow is completely counteracting Trump’s desire to get Putin and Zelenskyy together.
As some commentators have already remarked, Zelenskyy cannot travel to Moscow. So that is already an indication that this didn’t go Trump’s way.
Putin talked for eight minutes. He probably, in these three hours, talked about maps, about history, about why Ukraine shouldn’t exist, and whatever. Trump doesn’t care about these things—he may, maybe he doesn’t. I don’t know the man, but he is a real estate person.
The Real Estate Approach
If you’ve dealt with real estate people, they will tell you everything is negotiable. “Okay, the basement doesn’t look good—I’m going to give you some dollars off. Maybe look at this here. What can we do to improve? Let’s make a deal. Is this the best house ever built? This is a fantastic garden.”
If you’ve been house shopping ever, you know what I’m talking about. That’s what Trump does. That’s his style of politics. Everything is “the greatest, the best,” and whatever, because that’s what he’s known for. That’s what he knows. That’s how you make deals.
You don’t make deals by looking at ancient maps that have no relation to reality anymore—except, of course, to Europeans. As a European myself (European American, but still deeply European), I understand the Roman Empire’s recent past, Moscow as the Third Rome, Orthodox—all of this is important somehow. It’s just not relevant to the situation at hand.
Putin’s Manipulative Tactics
When Putin says “it’s a tragedy what’s happening in Ukraine”—yeah, well, this is like the Godfather: “Oh, what a tragic situation here that I just caused.”
Putin keeps talking the same talk about “the root causes of the problem,” meaning the existence of Ukraine as an independent country. That’s all it means—the diminishing of the Russian Empire. That’s all it means.
I very well remember the list of demands that Putin had before the full invasion, and I can tell you he wasn’t just interested in Ukraine. I think he remembers East Germany very fondly—the full Soviet bloc and a little bit more, a little dash extra. Russian propagandists keep talking about “Lisbon to Vladivostok.”
You heard Putin again saying the Ukrainians and Europeans better not “muck this up.” That’s not how you talk when you want to make a deal.
The Failed Outcome
There was one hope we had here: ceasefire. No deal. Ceasefire? No.
So: big grand entry, big welcome, fizzled out at the end. Not even a dinner, no press conference, because that weakling Putin can’t stand the questions. Trump knows how to handle press. Putin doesn’t know how to respond to people who don’t think like him. Well, he knows how to respond—it’s just not bloodless.
Did Putin Win?
Did Putin get a win out of this? You know, I thought about this for a while. Russian media is enthusiastic, but they have to be. Let’s think about this.
No offense to Alaska—it is the last frontier, it’s cold, it’s not the state you show off. It’s not one of the bad states (I’ve been to some areas I wouldn’t want to show off, definitely), but Anchorage is not Washington D.C. And meeting at a military base? That’s not really a state visit. That’s a place you go to if you’re afraid.
And Putin has every reason to be afraid. I heard some analysts saying that was the safest place to fly—if it even was the real Putin (I think it was, he looked like it)—but it is the safest place to fly, out of the reach of Ukrainian drones and other weapons. That probably was the reason.
The Symbolism of Alaska
Then, think about this: Trump inviting him to Alaska. Doesn’t this sting a little bit? Not to the Americans—to the Russians. Trump invited Putin to a place that Russia once owned, and it is now clearly American.
Now, you can read it this way: “Look, we are showing you what we made out of the place where you failed. You failed on the Siberian side because it doesn’t look like that. We have the newest technology. We have this big military base there where even you can feel safe.”
And we know that Putin had more expectations for that meeting. He came with a huge bunch of people. I don’t think the plan was for the negotiations to be that short. I think there was supposed to be more going on. I can be wrong.
Why Putin Came
Why did Putin come? Simple. Trump threatened secondary sanctions and a more hardline position toward Putin. So Putin had to act.
Putin didn’t get to Alaska because he’s the strong person. He groveled. He’s distracting from the fact that Russia is losing this war. He wants to bamboozle Trump into thinking, “Oh no, no. I’m so big, I’m so strong. Look, I have all this territory. I have all these people. I have so much potential here.” But your economy is dying. Your people are dying—you’re killing them. And your soft power internationally is decreasing.
Armenia and Azerbaijan don’t respect you anymore. Other former Soviet republics don’t like you. The Europeans managed to get along with Trump. NATO is arming. Finland and Sweden joined NATO. The Europeans boldly proposed a peace plan with Ukraine being in the EU and associated with NATO—at least that, if not membership, then association.
Putin’s Weakness
This is not going Putin’s way. This is why the weak man, the scared man who knows where his country is heading, had to grovel and had to come to his former colony and meet with Donald Trump.
Think about this: a man who thinks of himself like a tsar of the eternal Roman Empire (Russian edition), having to meet with a man that he clearly thinks is not his equal. You can look at Putin and see how much he thinks he can dominate Donald Trump—the real estate mogul. Donald Trump: casinos, restaurants, Miss Universe. And that’s who Putin has to ask for help. That’s who Putin has to ask for assistance.
Putin is a prime case for Russian imperial arrogance, also for European arrogance—that America, the child of Europe, is now the most powerful country in the world, that it’s a functioning democracy, a democracy that can even survive someone like Donald Trump. Americans actually voted for Donald Trump because they feel secure enough in their democracy (not all, but many—the majority) that they can say, “No, let Trump try, because the opposition or the alternative would have been worse.”
That’s the person that Putin has to grovel to, and I think he knows that. He’s tried to manipulate Trump in several phone calls.
Current Situation
In the meantime, the little salient in Donbas near Pokrovsk has already been pushed back. The Ukrainians have again bombed refineries and are destroying, bit by bit, Russian military infrastructure. The economy keeps going down.
Yes, the Russian people are hardy people. Yes, they are professional sufferers. Yes, they are apolitical to a fault, and it is frustrating. But the Russian people have had revolutions in the past. Let’s see what happens.
The Aftermath
I think there is a fascinating contrast we saw between the bombastic welcome (and Trump really wanted it—Trump wanted something) and then the hasty departure.
They talked about some kind of deal—”Haven’t you talked with NATO and Ukraine?”—but I think whatever was discussed, Trump knows that it can’t fly. He’s already pushing responsibility to Europe and Ukraine to figure this out.
Will he punish Putin? Will he punish Russia? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe it’s not the worst thing if America just lets Ukraine buy weapons and doesn’t get in the way.
It is not the worst idea in the world for Trump to try to maintain relationships with a crazy dictator armed with nukes. And when I say crazy, he is crazy. Not in a mental sense, but he is crazy because he had all this potential. He inherited a democratic Russia (flawed) and he destroyed it all.
German Politics and Western Perception
He had the goodwill of people. Man, people were bamboozled by Putin left and right. Still are. If you’re frustrated about Trump, don’t get me started on German politics and how every day I see in the German press, “Oh, Russia is so strong.” No, it’s not.
Yes, Ukraine is suffering. Ukraine is being attacked every day and Ukrainians are dying, getting hurt. They’re losing their homes, and in the occupied territories, who knows what’s happening there?
But Ukraine has a bright future. Once this is over (and it will eventually be over), everybody in the West will rush into Ukraine with investment ideas. The Ukrainians are resourceful people. They are smart, they’re educated, they have initiative. They are indomitable.
Final Assessment
Trump didn’t look convinced. I don’t think Putin looked happy either. I think whatever was discussed can’t go far, and Trump didn’t mention it because it wasn’t worth mentioning as a success.
This was a vague thing. This was not a nothing burger, because what happened is Trump now met Putin in person after all these years again. And now he knows Putin was desperate enough to show up to his former colony. And I want to stress this again: this was not a victory for Putin. Him having to come to Alaska to grovel—that’s a defeat. No matter how Putin has his press people salivating over this and trying to spin this into a success.
No, I don’t think this was good for Putin. I hope it will be good for Ukraine. And let’s see where this goes.
Again, I wasn’t in the room. This is just me speculating. So if you have your ideas, let me know. Otherwise, thanks for listening.
Ceterum censeo Ucrainam esse defendam. Слава Україні!
[This was originally posted to YouTube as a video. This post is a slightly abbreviated transcript, preserving the oral style of the video.]
Erratic Attempts 