WASHINGTON — President Trump estimated Thursday there is a 25% chance that his Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin will end in failure — adding that a “more important” meeting could take place later with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The dealmaker-in-chief insisted in an interview with Fox News Radio host Brian Kilmeade that he is the only reason the Russian dictator is coming to the table, and told reporters later in the Oval Office the sitdown in Anchorage would just be a first step.
“I think [Putin] wants to get it done. I really feel he wanted the whole thing. I think if it weren’t me, if it was somebody else, he would not be talking to anybody,” Trump said.
President Trump said Thursday that his Friday summit with Vladimir Putin has a 25% chance of failure. Getty Images
Demonstrators wave Ukrainian flags as they rally in support of Ukraine along Seward Highway in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 14, 2025, on the eve of the scheduled meeting between Trump and Putin. AFP via Getty Images“I’m the toughest one that he’s ever had to deal with. He’s never had to deal with anybody like me.”
Trump also said a successful meeting on Friday could result in him staying in Alaska to host a follow-up meeting featuring Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“I believe now he’s convinced that he’s going to make a deal” to end the long-running conflict, the president continued, adding, “I’m going to know very quickly.”
Trump described the high-profile encounters as a preliminary step toward peace, saying, “I don’t know that we’re going to get an immediate cease-fire, but I think it’s going to come.”
“Depending on what happens with my meeting, I’m going to be calling the president, Zelensky, and let’s get him over to wherever we’re going to meet,” he told Kilmeade.
Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. ZUMAPRESS.com“I don’t know where we’re going to have the second meeting, but we have an idea of three different locations and we’ll be including the possibility, because it would be by far the easiest, of staying in Alaska,” he continued.
“If it’s a bad meeting, I’m not calling anybody, I’m going home.”
Here are the latest details on Trump and Putin's meeting in Alaska
- The meeting will take place in Anchorage, Alaska at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
- Trump said his sitdown with Putin in Alaska will be “setting the table” for a possible future meeting about the war in Ukraine with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky present.
- Putin suggested the US and Russia could reach a deal on nuclear arms control.
- President Trump estimated Thursday there is a 25% chance that his Alaska summit will fail.
- Zelensky met with European world leaders ahead of the meeting between Trump and Putin.
Trump said Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky (right) may be invited to come to Alaska if talks go well. Bernd Elmenthaler/Future Image/INSTARimagesMany details of the Alaska summit remain unknown just a day ahead of time, including whether the leaders will jointly address the press afterward.
“I would say I’ll have a press conference in either event,” Trump said.
Demonstrators attend a protest in solidarity with Ukraine, ahead of the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S., August 14, 2025. REUTERS
Demonstrators hold Ukraine’s and Poland’s national flags and a banner as they rally outside the embassy of the United States of America in Warsaw, Poland, on August 14, 2025. Aleksander Kalka/NurPhoto/Shutterstock“If it’s negative, I’ll have a press conference to say that the war is going to go on and these people are horribly going to continue to shoot each other and kill each other, and I think it’s a disgrace, and I’ll head back to Washington.
“Or I’ll have a press conference that’s positive.”
Trump acknowledged he has been overly optimistic in the past.
“I’ve stopped six wars this year. This was going to be one of my easy ones, but it never works out that way. This turns out to be probably the most difficult,” he said.
