Trump shares First Lady Melania's letter to Putin as he rages over coverage of Alaska summit
In the letter, which Putin reportedly read 'immediately' in front of delegates at the summit, the first lady urged the Russian leader to remember the innocence of the children caught in the midst of the fighting.
'In protecting the innocence of these children, you will do more than serve Russia alone — you serve humanity itself,' the letter reads. 'Such a bold idea transcends all human division, and you, Mr. Putin, are fit to implement this vision with the stroke of the pen today. It is time.'
The president revealed the letter on Truth Social, after making multiple posts criticizing reaction from the media and Democrats to the Alaska summit, which did not result in a deal to end the Ukraine war.
Senator Chris Murphy, the ranking Democratic member of the Foreign Affairs subcommittee on European security cooperation, said the VIP welcome for Putin gave the Russian 'everything he wanted' and was an 'embarrassment for the United States.'
"It's incredible how the Fake News violently distorts the TRUTH when it comes to me," Trump wrote in an earlier post. "There is NOTHING I can say or do that would lead them to write or report honestly about me."
"If I got Russia to give up Moscow as part of the Deal, the Fake News, and their PARTNER, the Radical Left Democrats, would say I made a terrible mistake and a very bad deal,' he wrote in another.
Following the Alaska summit, both Trump and Putin claimed the controversial meeting had been 'productive' and a 'success,' though little concrete information has emerged about what the two leaders discussed behind closed doors.
'We had an extremely productive meeting, and many points were agreed to,' Trump told reporters. 'There are just a very few that are left. Some are not that significant. One is probably the most significant, but we have a very good chance of getting there. We didn't get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there.'
Speaking to Fox News's Sean Hannity after the summit, Trump said both Putin and Zelensky would like him to be present at a potential second meeting.
'They both want me there, and I'll be there,' he said.
On Sunday, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said Putin agreed to allow the U.S. and its European allies to offer Ukraine a NATO-like security guarantee.
'We were able to win the following concession: That the United States could offer Article 5-like protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in Nato," Witkoff told CNN.
The reported concession 'was the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that,' Witkoff added, calling the step 'game-changing.'
The envoy also signaled that the fate of the occupied Donbas region, which Putin reportedly demands Ukraine cede to Russia to end the invasion, will be a major topic during continued discussions around ending the war.
Following Trump's meeting with Putin, European leaders head to Washington Monday for continued talks with the president.
The European delegation includes Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, the UK's Sir Keir Starmer, France's Emmanuel Macron, Germany's Friedrich Merz, Finland's Alexander Stubb, EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and NATO chief Mark Rutte.
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