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9 News
an hour ago
- 9 News
White House lands on Trump-Putin summit location as officials race to prepare for historic Alaska meeting
American officials scrambling this weekend to identify and lock down a venue for Friday's summit between President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart quickly discovered a major snag: summertime is peak tourist season in Alaska, and options both available and equipped to host the two world leaders were severely limited. When word reached certain prominent Alaskans that Trump and Putin were coming, a few began reaching out to the president's allies with a proposition: could their home be an option? It's unclear if those offers ever reached White House officials, who were calling sites in Juneau, the state capital, along with Anchorage and Fairbanks. Organisers of the summit soon came to believe the only city in the massive state with viable options for the summit would be Anchorage. And only Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, on the northern edge of the city, would meet the security requirements for the historic meeting, though the White House had hoped to avoid the optics of hosting the Russian leader and his entourage on a US military installation. That is where the two men will meet Friday, two White House officials said. The struggle underscored the rush now underway to nail down the details of Friday's meeting, the first time the top US and Russian leaders have met in more than four years. The summit is still largely a work in progress as US and Russian officials make haste to prepare for the high-profile encounter. The two countries' top diplomats – Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov – spoke to discuss "certain aspects of preparation," according to Russia's foreign ministry. Usually, a high-stakes summit with a US adversary would be preceded by extensive negotiations over the agenda and outcomes. But Trump himself has said he is approaching the meeting as a "feel-out" session, with few advance expectations for how it will proceed. The White House on Tuesday termed it a "listening session." "The president feels like, 'look, I've got to look at this guy across the table. I need to see him face to face. I need to hear him one-on-one. I need to make an assessment by looking at him,'" Rubio said in a morning radio interview with Sid Rosenberg, offering one explanation for why Trump's five known phone calls with Putin this year wouldn't suffice in determining the Russian leader's intentions. Landing on Alaska Trump's administration and the Kremlin landed on Alaska as the site for the summit after a lengthy behind-the-scenes back-and-forth, according to people familiar with the matter. There were few places that would work for the sit-down, the people said, particularly given a war crimes warrant issued for Putin's arrest by the International Criminal Court in 2023. With that fact looming, Russia balked at a European destination – even in a city like Vienna or Geneva, where US and Russian leaders have met dating back to the Cold War. While Putin himself raised the United Arab Emirates as an "entirely suitable" location, many inside the White House hoped to avoid another lengthy trek to the Middle East after Trump's visit in May. In the end, sources said, it came down to Hungary – whose Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is close to both Trump and Putin – and the United States as possible hosts, according to two US officials. American officials were pleased and somewhat surprised when the Russian president agreed to a meeting on US soil – on land that once was part of the Russian empire, no less. "I thought it was very respectful that the president of Russia is coming to our country as opposed to us going to his country or even a third-party place," Trump said this week, as his team was rushing to finalise details of the summit. Others were not so taken. "The only better place for Putin than Alaska would be if the summit were being held in Moscow," said Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton, who fell out with Trump during his first term. "So, the initial setup, I think, is a great victory for Putin." Previous Putin meetings The last time an American president met with Putin – President Joe Biden's 2021 summit in Geneva – the date and venue were announced three weeks ahead of time. But the planning between Russian and American officials started months before that. Biden, on a week-long swing through Europe, spent the days leading up to the sit-down in intensive preparation with top advisers, blocking out time in the mornings to parse potential directions the conversation could take and anticipate some of Putin's moves. He consulted other leaders, including the German chancellor, for pointers on how to approach the notoriously wily Russian leader. By the time the summit arrived, aides had planned the day down to the most minute detail, including what order the leaders would arrive, how long each session would last and what type of flower would sit on the table (it was white roses). American officials even ensured there were bottles of orange Gatorade – labelled "POTUS" – inside a refrigerator at the 18th-century villa where the meeting took place. During Trump's first term, he and Putin sat one-on-one in Helsinki, Finland, during a summit in 2018 that ended with a remarkable moment when Trump sided with Putin over US intelligence agencies on the question of Russian election interference. Trump also met Putin alone in 2017, during their first encounter at the G20 summit in Hamburg. Mystery over meeting's origins While American and Russian officials have been in extensive conversations to prepare for the sit-down since it was agreed to last week, the encounter that prompted the event remains something of a mystery. Trump's foreign envoy Steve Witkoff visited Moscow last Wednesday for a meeting with Putin that resulted in the decision to meet, though what exactly Putin said in the meeting is still largely unknown. European officials spent much of the last week trying to ascertain the parameters of a peace deal that Putin offered up, but some said they were frustrated by the lack of clarity offered by Witkoff, a real estate developer and longtime friend of Trump's. Trump plans to hear from European leaders in a virtual meeting on Wednesday, arranged by the Germans so the president can get their perspective ahead of the Friday meeting. And he has promised to get on the phone with them, along with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, immediately after the summit concludes. But Zelensky isn't expected to be in Alaska for the summit, so any potential trilateral meeting is off the table for now. Instead, Trump will spend at least part of the summit meeting with Putin one-on-one, the White House said Tuesday, allowing time for the two men to carry out a discussion unheard by anyone else aside from their translators. "That's part of the plan," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said when asked whether the two presidents would meet as a pair. "As for the other mechanics and logistics, I will let our team speak to that when they're ironed out." It's not atypical for leaders to meet alone with their counterparts, but Trump and Putin's relationship has been the subject of intense scrutiny. And during Trump's first term, even senior officials said they sometimes were left in the dark about what was discussed when aides were left out. In Trump's previous two meetings with Putin, both encounters included translators, but not high-ranking aides. After the Germany meeting, Trump reportedly asked his translator for his notes. For his part, Putin has spent the days ahead of Friday's meeting placing phone calls to his remaining global allies – including some who have staged their own high-profile summits with Trump. That included North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, the Kremlin said \, who met three times with Trump during his first term, but still hasn't abandoned his nuclear weapons.
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
‘Right down to business': Megyn Kelly examines Trump's strategy with Putin peace talks
'The Megyn Kelly Show' host Megyn Kelly discusses the possibility of Trump finding a 'resolution' to the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Donald Trump is adamant land swapping will be key to any peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. 'Trump doesn't have a lot of time on his hands for the normal, diplomatic, glad handing, banal talk that might precede actual comments,' Ms Kelly told Sky News host Paul Murray. 'Trump is going to get right down to business – I guarantee you.'
7NEWS
4 hours ago
- 7NEWS
White House orders review of Smithsonian museums and exhibits to make sure they align with Trump's vision
The White House is conducting a comprehensive internal review of exhibits and materials at the Smithsonian Institution — the organisation that runs the nation's major public museums — in an effort to comply with US President Donald Trump 's directive about what should and shouldn't be displayed. The initiative, a trio of top Trump aides wrote in a letter to Smithsonian Institution secretary Lonnie Bunch III, 'aims to ensure alignment with the President's directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions'. It marks the latest move by the Trump administration to impose the president's views on US cultural and historical institutions and purge materials focused on diversity. Earlier this year, Trump signed an executive order accusing the Smithsonian Institution of having 'come under the influence of a divisive, face-centred ideology' that has 'promoted narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive'. Trump's action put Vice President JD Vance in charge of stopping government spending on 'exhibits or programs that degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race, or promote programs or ideologies inconsistent with Federal law and policy'. The letter released Tuesday — signed by Trump aides Lindsey Halligan, the senior associate staff secretary; Vince Haley, the Domestic Policy Council director; and Russell Vought, the Office of Management and Budget director — says the review will focus on public-facing content, the curatorial process to understand how work is selected for exhibit, current and future exhibition planning, the use of existing materials and collections, and guidelines for narrative standards. Eight key, Washington, DC-based Smithsonian museums will be part of the first phase of the review: the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Air and Space Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Additional museums, the letter said, will be announced in a second phase. The Smithsonian said it was 'reviewing' the letter and planned to work 'constructively' with the White House. 'The Smithsonian's work is grounded in a deep commitment to scholarly excellence, rigorous research, and the accurate, factual presentation of history. We are reviewing the letter with this commitment in mind and will continue to collaborate constructively with the White House, Congress, and our governing Board of Regents,' the statement said. The Smithsonian Institution is the world's largest museum complex, including 21 museums and the National Zoo. Nearly 17 million people visited Smithsonian properties last year, according to the museum's website. Admission at nearly all the museums is free. The Smithsonian began a review of its own in June, and has repeatedly stressed its commitment to being nonpartisan. The institution said in July that it was committed to an 'unbiased presentation of facts and history' and that it would 'make any necessary changes to ensure our content meets our standards.' The letter calls on each museum to designate a point of contact to provide details on plans for programming to highlight the country's 250th anniversary. It also asks for a full catalogue of all current and ongoing exhibitions and budgets, a list of all travelling exhibitions and plans for the next three years, and all internal guidelines, including staff manuals, job descriptions, and organisational charts, along with internal communications about exhibition artwork selection and approval. That material is due within 30 days, with 'on-site observational visits' and walkthroughs expected. Within 75 days, Trump administration officials will schedule and conduct 'voluntary interviews with curators and senior staff.' And within 120 days, museums 'should begin implementing content corrections where necessary, replacing divisive or ideologically driven language with unifying, historically accurate, and constructive descriptions across placards, wall didactics, digital displays, and other public-facing materials'. Last month, the National Museum of American History removed a temporary placard referencing Trump's two impeachments from an exhibit related to the presidency, prompting public outcry against the museum and claims it was capitulating to Trump. In follow-up statements, the museum system insisted the placard's removal was temporary and denied it had been pressured by any government official to make changes to its exhibits. It was reinstalled days ago, with some changes. The exhibit now is set up in a way that places information about Trump's two impeachments in a lower spot, with some changes to the placard's text.
