WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump appeared to confuse Russia with Alaska on Monday while discussing his upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a White House press conference on crime in Washington, D.C.
Joined by Attorney General Pam Bondi, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and newly confirmed D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, Trump announced plans to deploy the National Guard and place the capital’s police under federal control, calling the city “unsafe” and “disgusting.”
“You know, I’m going to see Putin. I’m going to Russia on Friday,” Trump said, before aides later clarified he will travel to Alaska, not Russia, for the talks. The summit, set for Aug. 15, will be the first meeting between a U.S. president and Putin since 2021 and the first visit by the Russian leader to U.S. soil in a decade, despite an International Criminal Court warrant for his arrest.
Trump says the Alaska meeting aims to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski expressed cautious optimism, calling it a “chance for meaningful agreements,” though she warned of Putin’s record.
The choice of venue stirred historical debate. Russia once controlled Alaska until selling it to the U.S. in 1867, and Russian officials hailed the location as symbolic of shared history.
Trump also said he hopes to arrange a meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, though he criticized Zelensky for seeking constitutional approval for any land-swapping deal. Trump acknowledged that negotiations would be “very complex,” involving changes to “battle lines” in Ukraine.
The summit’s unusual setting, coupled with Trump’s on-stage mix-up, has already drawn both diplomatic intrigue and domestic political fire.
