At the start of the summit, when President Trump greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin on the tarmac at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska, a cohort of military fighter jets, including a B-2 stealth bomber, flew overhead. (Reuters)
However, while Mast expressed that he saw Trump challenging 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.
Meanwhile, as the meeting was kicking off, Rep. Eugene Vindman, D-Va., said, "The very fact that Putin will be on American soil is a huge win for him."
"First, he is legitimized and not a global pariah. Second, he would be subject to arrest in 123 countries due to his ICC arrest warrant. Here [sic] is walking free," Vindman lamented.
FROM ADMIRATION TO ALASKA: A TIMELINE OF TRUMP AND PUTIN’S HIGH-STAKES ENCOUNTERS
"Trump invited a dictator onto U.S. soil just to get his s*** rocked," added the official X account for the Democratic Party.
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)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
"The key to ending this war honorably and justly is to create an infrastructure of deterrence that Biden and Obama failed to do — which will prevent a third invasion," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said following Friday's summit.
The South Carolina senator added that following the summit, a meeting between Trump, Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be necessary. The senator argued that, with such a meeting, he would be "cautiously optimistic" that the war could end "well before Christmas."
"If that meeting fails to materialize, I think President Trump may have to go all in to punish those who buy cheap Russian oil and gas, propping up Putin’s war machine," Graham concluded.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gop-praises-trumps-posture-during-alaska-summit-dems-cry-foul-over-trumps-apparent-coziness-putin