Donald Trump’s much-anticipated meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin achieved very little in terms of actually delivering peace in the long-gestating border war with Ukraine. And unfortunately for the president, he already had a pre-scheduled interview with Sean Hannity despite having nothing of substance to share about the meeting.
Trump started the interview with Fox News with surprisingly low energy and said he regretted already agreeing to the interview. But still, he chose to insist the meeting with Putin “went really well.” As of this moment, it’s hard to actually know the specifics of the meeting because, contrary to Trump’s previous affinity for doing even volatile meetings in front of the press — this meeting occurred for 3 hours behind closed doors, and the closing press conference lasted just a little over 10 minutes.
Trump was hyping up this meeting for a while. The administration was even making claims that if Trump did manage to secure a ceasefire for the Ukraine war, then his bid for the Nobel Peace Prize would be secured. But no such thing happened. What instead happened was Trump literally rolling out the red carpet for yet another suspected war criminal who he clapped for as he walked toward him in front of the international press.
Sean Hannity’s initial question to Trump was to remind the president that he had previously stated that Trump once declared he would immediately know two minutes into a meeting with Putin if they would make a deal. Trump’s response was bizarre and unclear, to say the least. Trump gave a long and unfocused tirade about how great Russia is and how the elections in 2020 were rigged, which left users on X befuddled.
How MAGA cult puppets continue to listen to the diarrhea oozing from this nutcase is one of the great mysteries. Painful listening to that. Fucking morons.
— Patrick Thorpe (@patrick_thorpe) August 16, 2025
Trump’s focus on the 2020 election continued when he told Hannity that Putin told him the reason the election was rigged is because of mail-in votes, something Putin claims is done nowhere else in the world. Taking democracy notes from Putin was also strange to people on social media because the Russian president has long been accused of targeting his political opponents and has even changed the constitution recently to allow him to stay president until at least 2036. But perhaps, even this is not all that unthinkable for Trump.
LOL. Vladimir Putin: Election Integrity Expert. https://t.co/vPwWaIOQ01
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) August 16, 2025
The flattery between the two leaders didn’t end there. When Putin spoke at the press conference, he reiterated Trump’s claim that if Trump were president when Ukraine tensions first flared, the war would not have happened. It’s long been understood that world leaders know if you pay Trump a compliment – or perhaps a plane – he’s more likely to do your bidding. For most experts, they read this act as Putin simply trying to keep Trump on his side by saying unverifiable theories that paint Trump positively and boost his ego.
At the end of the day, no deal was brokered despite all the anticipation. For most international observers, this was read as a win for Putin, who is understood to want major land concessions from Ukraine before any ceasefire. The Russian leader did, however, suggest the next round of negotiations should happen in Moscow.
