Trump’s Alaska Summit Brings Putin in From the Cold

In just a few hours in Alaska, Putin’s journey from pariah to peer was complete.

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin pose on the tarmac at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on Aug. 15.

Photographer: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

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So much for Donald Trump’s threat to “walk out” if he felt he was getting played or the “severe consequences” that would rain down on Russia if Vladimir Putin refused his demand for a ceasefire in Ukraine at their summit in Alaska.

Instead, Trump rolled out the red carpet for the Russian president, posed with him as a B-2 stealth bomber and fighter jets flew over their heads, then beckoned him into his armored limousine.