Category: Summit

Victor Davis Hanson: What the Left Gets Wrong About Trump-Putin Summit

Within 48 hours of the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, Trump rallied major European leaders—alongside Ukrainian President Zelenskyy—to present a united front against Russia. Yet, despite this display of strength and cooperation, the Left remains furious. Victor Davis Hanson puts the summit in historical perspective and compares Trump’s diplomacy to past U.S. presidents on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.” “ It begs the question, do you have any collective memory? The Ukraine war started when Vladimir Putin invaded the Crimea and Donbas under the presidency of Barack Obama. Remember the hot mic in Seoul, where he said, 'Tell Vladimir that if he gives me space for my last election, I'll be flexible on missile defense'? Do you remember that? He also invaded, as you remember, in Joe Biden's tenure. He tried to take Kyiv. He didn't during Donald Trump's four years. “ All I'm asking them is, please give us an alternative strategy. How long do you wanna fight? Who is gonna fight? How many deaths, wounded are you willing to incur to push Vladimir Putin all the way back to where he was prior to the invasion of 2014, when Barack Obama allowed him to come in? Just a question.”

Victor Davis Hanson: After Trump-Putin Summit, Where Does War Go From Here?

President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, last Friday with sights set on a possible ceasefire.    Victor Davis Hanson explains what was (and wasn’t) said at the summit, why Russia is appealing directly to Trump and the American people, and how Trump—whether the Left likes it or not—could end this war he didn’t start on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.” “ Ukraine will not be in NATO. They don’t have the military wherewithal. They have the moral edge and the moral right—but they don’t have the military wherewithal. Nor does Europe or the United States want to go to that length to give it to them against nuclear Russia to reclaim the Donbas—all of the Donbas—or Crimea. “ The summit was about what we could expect. Putin wants to win over America so then America will back off from Ukraine, and so it can get some more mileage westward and further deteriorate or erode or detrite the Ukrainian military. The Ukrainian military is pretty tough. It’s hanging in there. It wants enough aid to leverage Putin. And between those two poles, there will be a DMZ. And if there is a peace settlement, it will be the work—whether the Left likes it or not—of Donald Trump, the one world leader, among the three, that has nothing to do with this war.”

Victor Davis Hanson: Trump-Putin’s High-Stakes Summit Tomorrow

President Donald Trump is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin tomorrow in Anchorage, Alaska, marking the first U.S.-Russia summit in years, and the first attempt at direct talks since the war in Ukraine began.    The stakes couldn’t be higher. Will this summit move the world toward peace or harden the deadlock? Hanson lays out why the Biden administration has avoided such meetings, why the “Putin puppet” narrative has gone silent, and what Trump’s high-stakes negotiating strategy could mean for the war’s endgame on today’s episode of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words.” “We’re gonna have this summit. And Trump is going to say to Putin, ‘You can have no NATO Ukraine. You can have the Crimea. You can have the Donbas. I think I can get Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people to agree. But we’ve gotta fight over how far west you are and whether you have to go back or will stay in place.’ And then he’s going to have to tell Zelenskyy, ‘We’re supplying you. That’s the only leverage we have against Putin, along with a secondary boycott. But you have to decide whether you’re going to cede the Donbas, Crimea, and some of the territory. Because if you don’t, there’s not going to be a peace. And if there’s not going to be a peace, we can’t assure you a blank check forever.’”