Putin Seeks Arms Control Treaty Following Trump Summit
An agreement on the control of strategic offensive weapons could 'create long-term conditions of peace,' Putin said at a meeting with senior Russian officials on Thursday.
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Yahoo
a minute ago
- Yahoo
Trump-Putin summit: A look back at when the US purchased Alaska from Russia
Before President Donald Trump sits down with Russian President Vladimir Putin for a highly-anticipated summit in Alaska to discuss Moscow's war on Ukraine, experts emphasize the historical significance of this meeting location, specifically how the United States purchased the land from Russia back in 1867. "I think that what's missing in a lot of our political conversations in the world right now is history, and there's a history behind a lot of what's happening not only in this Russian-American relationship, but also this war," Lee Farrow, history professor and chair of the Department of History and World Cultures at Auburn University at Montgomery, told ABC News. Prior to Alaska becoming the 49th state of the U.S., the territory was under the control of Russia after Czar Peter the Great sent explorer Vitus Bering to the Alaskan coast in 1725, according to the U.S. Department of State's Office of the Historian. Afterward, "Russia had a keen interest in this region, which was rich in natural resources and lightly inhabited," the office of the historian's website said. As the United States was expanding westward in the 1800s and Russia was dealing with a lack of financial resources and military presence in Alaska due to its involvement in the Crimean War, Czar Alexander the Second decided "perhaps it might be a good idea to go ahead and get rid of this faraway colony," Farrow said. "The stars kind of aligned at the right moment for this sale to occur," Farrow told ABC News. Russia officially offered to sell Alaska to the U.S. in 1859, "believing the United States would off-set the designs of Russia's greatest rival in the Pacific, Great Britain," the office of the historian said. But, Russia had to "beg" the U.S. to buy the colony, as the Americans were not initially interested in acquiring the land, Andrei Znamenski, history professor at the University of Memphis, told ABC News. MORE: NATO Secretary General Rutte says Trump-Putin summit is about 'testing Putin' "If we don't do anything, England, which is our enemy, she will come and take it over. So they decided to beg the United States [to] please buy this ice box. Eventually, a few Congress people actually had to be bribed," Znamenski said. After a delay due to the American Civil War, then-Secretary of State William Seward agreed to a renewed proposal to pay $7.2 million in exchange for the land on March 30, 1867, the office of the historian said. The Senate approved the treaty of purchase on April 9, President Andrew Jackson signed it on May 28 and Alaska was "formally transferred to the United States on Oct. 18, 1867," the office of the historian said. After the treaty was signed, people on Capitol Hill argued "whether or not this was a good purchase" or if it "was a wise move at that particular time," with people later referring to the acquisition as "Seward's Folly," Farrow said. This perception changed once discoveries of gold, silver and other natural resources in Alaska were found, Farrow said. "It was actually quite a very good deal for the United States," Farrow said. Only after the increase in discoveries of natural resources, the federal government began to take more interest in the land, with Alaska finally becoming a state on Jan. 3, 1959, Farrow said. MORE: Trump warns Russia of 'severe consequences' if Putin doesn't agree to stop war "Americans turned out to be incredibly lucky by purchasing the so-called ice box, but little did they know that they would be so happy. It turned out to be the greatest investment in terms of territory," Znamenski said. Regardless of what comes out of the meeting between Trump and Putin on Friday, Farrow told ABC News it's crucial for political leaders to remember the historical context when it comes to conflict and relationships between countries, since "it's not just about things that have happened in the last 10 years." "The Russian-American relationship has been so fraught with ups and downs, and there's always a way of looking at the past and focusing on the positive if we're going to try and mediate a war between Russia and Ukraine and actually have any hope of achieving something," Farrow said.
Fox News
2 minutes ago
- Fox News
Trump talks Smithsonian review, calls for museums to 'fairly' represent US history
President Donald Trump said Aug. 14, 2025, that he wants Smithsonian museums to talk about history "not in a woke manner."
CNN
3 minutes ago
- CNN
Trump celebrates Social Security's 90th anniversary, claims he's strengthening it
President Donald Trump signed a proclamation Thursday honoring the 90th anniversary of the Social Security Act of 1935. Before doing so, he touted what he sees as the keeping of his promise to preserve and protect the program and to lower taxes for seniors who receive Social Security benefits. Since 1935, Social Security has become the most popular and relied-upon federal safety net program. Roughly 70 million people are currently receiving checks from Social Security, of which the vast majority are retired workers. 'Today, we celebrate that 90th anniversary of one of the most significant pieces of legislation ever signed into law, the Social Security Act of 1935. And we're going to make it stronger, bigger and better. … During the campaign, I made a (pledge) to our seniors that I would always protect Social Security, and under this administration, we're keeping that promise and strengthening Social Security for generations to come,' Trump said. But in citing what he said were his administration's successes, Trump made some false and exaggerated or unverifiable claims. Among them: Trump said that because of his mega tax-and-spending-cuts package, which he signed into law on July 4, 'I allowed no tax on Social Security for our seniors.' And the White House in a separate statement asserted that 'the vast majority of seniors receiving Social Security will no longer pay taxes on that income.' That is not the case. What his package did do was give senior citizens an additional $6,000 deduction on their federal income taxes between 2025 and 2028. Joint filers get twice that amount. But the beefed-up deduction will benefit less than half of older Americans, according to a recent analysis by the nonpartisan Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. Those who will benefit the most are seniors earning between roughly $80,000 and $130,000. The provision will reduce their taxes by $1,100, on average, or about 1% of their after-tax income, according to the analysis. In praising the accomplishments of Social Security Commissioner Frank Bisignano, who was standing next to the president for the proclamation signing, Trump said that while the media has reported that the program was going to 'go bust' in less than a decade, 'Not anymore it's not.' But in fact, the program still faces the prospect of not being able to pay 100% of promised benefits by 2034 in the retirement and disability programs if lawmakers don't act to address the pending shortfall, according to the latest annual report from Social Security's trustees. By that point, unless changes to the system are made, payroll tax revenue and other income sources will only be able to cover 81% of scheduled benefits. And with the estimated reduction in tax revenue from Trump's One Big Beautful Bill Act, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that the insolvency date will now be a year or two earlier. There are several longstanding reasons for the funding shortfall, including demographics and other spending and tax legislation passed under Republican and Democratic administrations. But, to close that gap, lawmakers (as they've known for years) will need to come up with a package of fixes that may include raising more in Social Security taxes, raising the retirement age, changing the formula to reduce the amount of initial benefits a person receives at retirement, and changing how benefits are annually adjusted for cost of living, according to CRFB. Trump praised Bisignano's efforts to improve Social Security services by asserting that the agency has shortened call wait times, reduced the disability claims backlog and promoted seniors' online account access. The commissioner, who said Thursday his aim is to make the Social Security Administration a 'digital first' agency and by the end of next year have 200 million Americans signed up to online Social Security accounts, has promised to improve customer service, particularly over the telephone and through artificial intelligence, and to push more people to the program's website. Bisignano has touted improved metrics, but the agency has reduced the number of performance indicators it posts publicly, making comparisons difficult. Based on the statistics that are currently available, they show that less than half of calls (47.1%) are answered within two hours. And the Social Security Administration also recently proposed a change that potentially could make it harder for seniors to interact with the agency – including changing how they verify their identity. In response to concerns by advocacy groups like AARP, the agency has amended its proposal. Sen. Elizabeth Warren last month asked the Social Security's inspector general to audit the agency's customer service efforts in the wake of its shedding roughly 7,000 employees and implementing a new AI tool on its national 800 number.
