Trump Heads to Alaska to Seal Peace Deal — Calls Putin ‘Smart Guy’ as War-Ending Talks Loom

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — President Donald J. Trump is once again shaking up the stale, war-first mindset of the Washington establishment — this time by heading to Alaska for what he says could be a “pivotal moment” in the path toward ending the war in Ukraine.

Speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One, Trump made headlines by calling Russian President Vladimir Putin “a smart guy” and noting the mutual “good respect level on both sides.” This was no empty flattery; Trump explained that Putin’s decision to bring “a lot of business people from Russia” to the meeting is a sign that Moscow wants to return to trade and prosperity — but recognizes that business won’t boom until the guns fall silent.

“I like that because they want to do business, but they’re not doing business until we get the war stopped,” Trump said. In other words, Trump is seeing the war through the lens of results, not ideology — a perspective that has been sorely missing from the Biden-Harris years of endless foreign entanglements.

On the continuing Russian military activity in Ukraine, Trump showed both toughness and insight, saying he believes Putin “is trying to set a stage” to negotiate from a position of strength. But Trump warned that such tactics “actually hurt him” and vowed to confront Putin directly.

Opinion:

The corporate media will, of course, seize on Trump’s use of the phrase “smart guy” to whip up another round of tired “Trump loves dictators” talking points. But here’s the truth: effective diplomacy requires respect — even toward adversaries. That’s how Reagan dealt with Gorbachev, and that’s how Trump is dealing with Putin.

Biden’s State Department spent years moralizing and lecturing, with nothing to show but a longer war, higher fuel prices, and a dangerously unstable world. Trump’s approach is the opposite — recognize realities, talk business, and put America’s interests first.

The fact that this meeting is happening in Alaska — a symbolic gateway between America and Russia — underscores Trump’s focus on pragmatic deal-making over virtue-signaling photo ops in Brussels or Geneva. If Trump succeeds in stopping the war, it will be a win not only for America, but for every country sick of watching the globalists profit while soldiers and civilians pay the price.

While the Beltway elites fret about “tone” and “optics,” Trump is once again doing what they can’t: getting results. And if peace comes out of Anchorage, history will remember that it wasn’t endless lectures or sanctions that brought the war to an end — it was Donald J. Trump, making deals and putting America first.