Trump claims Putin called US ‘hot as a pistol’
Trump tells Hannity: “And Vladimir said just a little while ago, I have never seen anybody do so much, so fast. He said your country is, like, hot as a pistol. And a year ago, he thought it was dead.”
Oliver O’Connell16 August 2025 02:15
Trump says ‘no deal until there’s a deal,’ but progress was made
President Donald Trump continues to tells Hannity he had “a very good meeting today” with Putin, saying only that “a lot of very good points were negotiated on behalf of Ukraine and on behalf of the whole NATO situation.”
Trump appears to indicate that the ball is in Ukraine and Europe’s court, saying: “Now it’s really up to President Zelensky to get it done. And I would also say the European nations have to get involved a little bit.”
Oliver O’Connell16 August 2025 02:13
Trump won’t say what sticking point of talks on Ukraine was
Sean Hannity asked President Donald Trump what the one big issue he and President Vladimir Putin don’t agree on was: “Are you prepared to go public with that?”
Trump replied: “No, I’d rather not. I guess somebody is gonna go public with it, they’ll figure it out.”
Oliver O’Connell16 August 2025 02:10
‘I was very happy to hear him say if I was president that war never would have happened’
President Donald Trump sat down with Sean Hannity of Fox News immediately after he and President Vladimir Putin spoke to the press following their meeting.
Trump told Hannity he was “very happy” to hear Putin say that the Ukraine war would never have happened if he had been president.
Oliver O’Connell16 August 2025 02:08
Despite lack of details, Kremlin hails talks as ‘very positive’ and ‘productive’
Kremlin officials have hailed recent talks between President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump as “very positive” and “definitely productive,” despite a notable lack of specific details emerging from the summit.
According to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described the discussions as “very positive,” adding that the summit allows Moscow and Washington to “continue to confidently move together along the path of searching for (Ukraine conflict) resolution options.”
Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s envoy for investment and economic cooperation and a member of the Russian delegation, echoed this sentiment, calling the summit “definitely productive.” Speaking after the talks, Dmitriev stated there were “lots of issues that we discussed” and “many” agreed upon, with more “to be agreed” upon in the future. However, he did not elaborate on the specific issues.
Dmitriev further highlighted the importance of economic ties, noting: “It’s very important that President Trump outlined a significant economic potential of cooperation between the U.S. and Russia, and we will continue building U.S.-Russia relations going forward, despite lots of resistance to this.”
Despite the positive assessments, the summit concluded without a traditional press conference. RIA Novosti reported that Dmitry Peskov stated that Putin and Trump made “comprehensive statements” after the talks, leading to a decision not to take questions from journalists. Both leaders made their statements before departing the room, leaving reporters without the opportunity to pose questions.
With reporting from the AP
Oliver O’Connell16 August 2025 02:03
Today, Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet for authoritarian thug Vladimir Putin. Instead of standing with Ukraine and our allies, Trump stood shoulder to shoulder with an autocrat that has terrorized the Ukrainian people and the globe for years. While we wait for critical details of what was discussed—on first take it appears Trump handed Putin legitimacy, a global stage, zero accountability, and got nothing in return. Our fear is that this wasn’t diplomacy—it was just theater.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
Oliver O’Connell16 August 2025 01:58
Trump seemed to be ‘steamrolled’ by Putin
More cutting commentary from Fox News, with White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich saying: “The way that it felt in the room was not good. It did not seem like things went well. And it seemed like Putin came in and steamrolled, got right into what he wanted to say, and got his photo next to the president and then left.”
Oliver O’Connell16 August 2025 01:50
ICYMI: Piers Morgan quickly backtracks after ‘mistakenly’ posting photo of Trump wearing kneepads ahead of Putin summit
The British tabloid host went on to claim that the satirical pic of Trump merely came across his social media feed and he immediately reposted it alongside well-wishes to Trump.
Needless to say, Morgan faced a flood of mockery for posting the mocked-up photo of the president, something he acknowledged after deleting the image.
Justin Baragona has the story.
Oliver O’Connell16 August 2025 01:40
Tomorrow’s front page 
The Independent Daily Edition August 16, 2025 (The Independent)
Oliver O’Connell16 August 2025 01:32
President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin have departed Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on their respective official planes.
There did not appear to be as warm a farewell as there had been a welcome.
While they rode to the summit together in the backseat of Trump’s armored Cadillac, they departed in separate cars afterward.
Oliver O’Connell16 August 2025 01:23