The Trump-Putin Alaska summit concluded last week with little more than a handshake and a press conference that offered no real progress and no ceasefire agreement for Ukraine.
Tom Malinowski joins Jen Rubin to examine how Trump’s theatrics, his failure to use leverage, and his protection of Putin from real scrutiny weakened the moment. European leaders have emerged as a critical line of defense against Trump’s recklessness. Still, questions remain about what this spectacle means for America’s economic and social standing at home and abroad, and the core issue at stake, Ukrainian sovereignty.
Tom P. Malinowski is a former U.S. Congressman from New Jersey from 2019 to 2023. A Democrat, he served as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor in the Obama administration. Before that, he worked with the National Security Council to help end some of the 20th Century’s bloodiest humanitarian crises, and as the chief advocate for Human Rights Watch, leading a bipartisan effort to end the Bush Administration’s use of torture.
