- Putin enters the meeting with a long-eyed view at establishing superpower relations with the United States.
- Despite the entourages, the meeting boils down to Putin and Trump speaking with translators. Many see it as a chance for them to reestablish their frayed relationship.
- Trump has repeatedly said he wants to leave this meeting with a ceasefire deal in Ukraine, whose president Volodymyr Zelensky was not invited to attend.
Driving the news: Trump departed Joint Base Andrews Friday morning for Anchorage, Alaska, where he is scheduled to meet with Putin at at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
- Trump teased the upcoming meeting as a “high stakes” affair. On Thursday, he said he’d know within minutes if Putin was interested in working together. They’re expected to be joined by two translators.
- The two leaders are expected to hold a joint press conference after they meet.
Inside the room: Per the White House, officials on Air Force 1 with Trump include:
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio
- Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent
- Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick
- CIA Director John Ratcliffe
- White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt
- Susie Wiles, White House chief of staff
- White House special envoy Steve Witkoff
- Monica Crowley, chief of protocol
- James Blair, White House deputy chief of staff
- Beau Harrison, deputy chief of staff for operations
- Nick Luna, director of Oval Office operations
- Dan Scavino, White House deputy chief of staff
- Steven Cheung, White House communications director
- Robert Gabriel, deputy national security adviser
- Will Scharf, White House staff secretary
- Ross Worthington, White House director of speechwriting
- Bret Baier of Fox News was also on board the flight, as he is scheduled to interview the president, according to the White House press pool.
Worth noting: The White House’s list does not include Vice President JD Vance — who is vacationing in the U.K. — or Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg.
- Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine will also attend, the Defense Department said Friday.
Yes, but: Putin won’t be alone, either. According to NBC News, the Kremlin delegation includes:
- Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
- Defense Minister Andrei Belousov
- Finance Minister Anton Siluanov
- Direct Investment Fund head Kirill Dmitriev
The intrigue: Lavrov was spotted by multiple outlets wearing a shirt with “USSR” in Russian on it.
- “Ambush. Our delegation is outnumbered,” Dmitriev wrote on X.
What’s next: The meeting begins at 11 a.m. local time in Alaska, or 3 p.m. ET. Trump is scheduled to depart Alaska at 5:45 p.m. local time.
The bottom line: Trump and Putin aren’t taking this meeting lightly based on their high powered delegations. But what happens in the room is anyone’s guess.
