Trump-Putin Alaska summit divides congressional lawmakers

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As President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, reactions from lawmakers again in Washington, D.C., flooded in, together with one Republican who mentioned he needs the president nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize following the summit.

Whereas Republicans largely praised Trump for an assertive posture and for his efforts working in direction of peace, Democrats accused the president of being too pleasant with Putin.

"President Trump, I feel, is simply crystal clear that Putin's again is in opposition to the wall and I feel he demonstrated that clearness along with his very first motion earlier than saying a phrase with the truth that he flew B-2 bombers over [Putin's] head," mentioned Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla. "That was not on accident, clearly. For him to fly a B-2 bomber over Vladimir Putin's head, it was a sign to him that when President Trump says, 'Hey there may very well be very critical penalties.'"

MIKE POMPEO ADVISES AMERICANS NOT TO 'OVERREAD' THIS PART OF TRUMP AND PUTIN'S MEETING

At first of the summit, when President Trump greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin on the tarmac at Elmendorf Air Power Base in Alaska, a cohort of navy fighter jets, together with a B-2 stealth bomber, flew overhead. (Reuters)

Nevertheless, whereas Mast expressed that he noticed Trump difficult Putin, Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell described the summit as akin to "Trump toast[ing] Putin like he was giving him the lifetime achievement award."

"What a Kremlin kiss a-- our president is," Swalwell added.

In the meantime, because the assembly was kicking off, Rep. Eugene Vindman, D-Va., mentioned, "The actual fact that Putin will likely be on American soil is a big win for him."

"First, he's legitimized and never a world pariah. Second, he can be topic to arrest in 123 international locations as a consequence of his ICC arrest warrant. Right here [sic] is strolling free," Vindman lamented.

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"Trump invited a dictator onto U.S. soil simply to get his s*** rocked," added the official X account for the Democratic Get together.

President Donald Trump shakes arms with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the tarmac after they arrived at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on Aug. 15, 2025. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP by way of Getty Photos)

However Republicans rallied across the president's dealing with of the summit, with Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., asserting Friday night time after the summit concluded that he intends to draft a Nobel Peace Prize nomination for Trump.

Some Republicans took the chance Friday to slam the previous Biden administration for failing to take the mandatory motion to halt the struggle in Ukraine.

"When Joe Biden grew to become president he waved the sanctions on Nord Stream 2, he gave Putin and Russia a multi-billion greenback present, and the rationale that prompted the struggle is as a result of Putin had avoided invading Ukraine as a result of he did not need to harm the pure fuel pipelines that run by Ukraine," Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz mentioned Friday in an interview on Fox Information.

Through the summit, whereas Putin was addressing reporters, he mentioned that he believed the declare from Trump and Republicans that had Trump been president when the struggle started as a substitute of Biden, it probably by no means would have began within the first place.

President Donald Trump, proper, Russia's President Vladimir Putin arrive for a joint press convention at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photograph/Jae C. Hong)

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"The important thing to ending this struggle honorably and justly is to create an infrastructure of deterrence that Biden and Obama did not do — which can forestall a 3rd invasion," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., mentioned following Friday's summit.

The South Carolina senator added that following the summit, a gathering between Trump, Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will likely be obligatory. The senator argued that, with such a gathering, he can be "cautiously optimistic" that the struggle may finish "properly earlier than Christmas."

"If that assembly fails to materialize, I feel President Trump might need to go all in to punish those that purchase low cost Russian oil and fuel, propping up Putin’s struggle machine," Graham concluded.