Bolton Calls Trump–Putin Alaska Summit ‘Great Victory for Putin’

Former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton has sharply criticized Donald Trump’s plan to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15, saying the encounter recalls the former president’s aborted 2019 bid to host Taliban leaders at Camp David. Bolton told CNN the summit would be a "great victory for Putin," whom he described as "a rogue leader of a pariah state," and argued that welcoming him to U.S. soil grants the Kremlin undeserved legitimacy. "The only better place for Putin than Alaska would be if the summit were held in Moscow," he added. In separate appearances on ABC News, Bolton rebuffed suggestions that Trump deserves credit for a series of recent conflict de-escalations and peace initiatives. “I don't think what he has done materially changes the situations in any of those circumstances,” he said, dismissing claims that the former president’s diplomacy ended multiple wars or eased tensions such as those between India and Pakistan.