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President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned of “severe consequences” for Russian President Vladimir Putin if he fails to show serious intent to end the Ukraine war during their Friday summit in Alaska.
Speaking at the Kennedy Center, Trump made clear, “There will be consequences. I don’t have to say. There will be very severe consequences.” Trump did not elaborate further on the repercussions should Putin fall short at the summit.
Instead, he framed the meeting as a critical first step, “setting the table” for a potential follow-up with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“There’s a very good chance that we’re going to have a second meeting that will be more productive than the first,” Trump said. “Because the first is I’m going to find out where we are and what we’re doing. … There may be no second meeting, because if I feel that it’s not appropriate to have it because I didn’t get the answers that we have to have, then we are not going to have a second meeting.”
Fresh off an hour-long call with European leaders, including Zelenskyy, which Trump described as “very good,” he projected confidence in steering the negotiations. His focus is steadfast on securing American interests while addressing the conflict decisively.
Trump also took to Truth Social to counter media narratives undermining his diplomatic efforts. “Very unfair media is at work on my meeting with Putin. Constantly quoting fired losers and really dumb people like John Bolton, who just said that, even though the meeting is on American soil, ‘Putin has already won.’ What’s that all about? We are winning on EVERYTHING. The Fake News is working overtime (No tax on overtime!). If I got Moscow and Leningrad free, as part of the deal with Russia, the Fake News would say that I made a bad deal! But now they’ve been caught. Look at all of the real news that’s coming out about their CORRUPTION. They are sick and dishonest people, who probably hate our Country. But it doesn’t matter because we are winning on everything!!! MAGA”