In pursuit of a Nobel Peace Prize, Donald Trump will travel to Anchorage, Alaska, Friday to meet with Vlad the Warrior.
If Trump can wangle at least a cease-fire agreement from Putin, get ready for non-stop boosterism for a Trump Nobel Peace Prize. Will Trump dangle the possibility of Putin sharing the accolade with him as a means of obtaining Vlad’s agreement to stop sending explosive drones and missiles into Ukraine’s population centers?
Does Putin care about earning a Nobel?
Democracies are hoping Trump firmly asserts to Putin the inviability of borders, that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, regardless of pretext, cannot stand, that Russia must withdraw to pre-war lines. And that the United States and its allies will initiate severe sanctions on Russia and its trading partners if Russia does not comply.
Sitting with Trump as he recites his demands Putin no doubt will smile, at least inwardly, from being lectured by a man who has bullied his allies about taking Greenland by force if not sold to America, who has issued crippling tariffs on his two largest trading partners in hopes Canada will become the 51st state and Mexico will allow U.S. troops to operate freely within its territory, and has advocated for a forced evacuation of Palestinians from Gaza so the seaside land can be turned into a resort, no doubt sited with Trump-branded hotels.
Ah, the hypocrisy of it all. The chutzpah. The delicious irony that it is Putin who has it in HIS power to reward his adversary with a path to a Nobel, not the other way around.
As in the Pulitzer Prize musical, “Hamilton,” don’t you wish you were in the room where it happens? Will it just be Trump and Putin and their translators, sans any advisors? Will they, can they, be trusted to tell the truth, complete with details, of their conversation, of their agreement(s)?
When they met in Finland in 2018, they each constructed their own versions. In Helsinki, Putin gave Trump a soccer ball. With the World Cup scheduled to be played in America next year, Putin might be tempted to repeat the gift. Trump’s gift to Putin, democracies are hoping, will not be selling out Ukraine.
This time, for better or worse, we will know the outcome of the summit by the sound of quiet on the front or the pounding of bombs shattering buildings and bodies.
