Since the beginning, the liberal media decried every move President Trump made on the world sage as an act that disgraced the country, attacked global institutions, and lowered trust in America among other countries. But, on CBS News Sunday Morning, far-left network anchor John Dickerson whined that Trump didn’t do something that would have certain done all of that: arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin when he arrived in Alaska for a peace summit.
“The summit between President Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia is now history. We have thoughts from John Dickerson,” host Jane Pauley announced Dickerson’s video op-ed.
Dickerson brushed off Trump’s show of force: having a B-2 stealth bomber (the same aircraft which just gutted Iran’s nuclear program) flanked by stealth F-35s buzz over Putin’s head. He huffed about the purported “warm reception” Trump gave Putin while touting how he would had received a more “frigid” one in many other countries, which would have included a pair of shiny, self-locking bracelets:
That military flyover was the only faint echo of Mr. Trump`s earlier vow that Putin would face serious consequences if he refused a ceasefire. Come sit by the fire was the feeling instead as a warm reception helped Putin step in from the cold. A frigid reception would have greeted him in any of the 125 countries that abide by the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for Putin accusing him of overseeing the deportation of Ukrainian children, a violation of international law.
Of course, America arresting foreign leaders who came to negotiate peace agreements wouldn’t be a good look considering we also host the United Nations.
It’s easy for those in the liberal media like Dickerson, who don’t have a responsibility as great as running America and needing to think about the long term, to demand their knee-jerk demands be met posthaste.
“Instead, President Trump concluded the greeting by hosting Putin in his limousine. The welcome was a striking contrast to Trump`s sharp Oval Office treatment of Ukraine`s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy,” Dickerson lamented, ignoring that Trump didn’t play a role in how that Oval Office argument started.
Dickerson rounded out his bloviating by chiding how Trump gifted Putin a “rarer prize” in the form of a meeting with the president of the United States:
Though the Anchorage meeting is over, its history is unfinished. We don`t yet know if the red carpet was all carrot and no stick or bait to draw Putin closer to hear the hard terms.
What is certain is this. Vladimir Putin left Alaska with a prize rarer than gold for a wanted man, applause on American soil from the most powerful leader in the world.
This was the same pearl-clutchy gripe the liberal media pulled out when Trump met with North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un during his first term; claiming – without evidence – that it gave a dictator credibility on the world stage that would lead to them growing in power.
But the liberal media could never explain how a handshake and meetings that go nowhere get parleyed into those grander things. North Korea was as isolated as ever with several planned tourist traps for Chinese residents falling though, and the only new trade deals had been with Russia which only came about because of the War in Ukraine.
In that same vein, Putin’s house of cards (an economy being propped up by war-time death benefit payouts, dwindling military recruitment numbers in the eastern oblasts, and Russia’s population collapse among many issues) weren’t things that would be solved with a handshake on a tarmac in Alaska.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
CBS News Sunday Morning
August 18, 2025
9:44:40 a.m. EasternJANE PAULEY: The summit between President Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia is now history. We have thoughts from John Dickerson.
[Cuts to video]
JOHN DICKERSON: Anchorage, Alaska is a world away from Eastern Ukraine, the site of the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II. For three and a half years, the conflict has taken more than a million lives, upended global alliances, and sent the economy of the world into turmoil.
Could a process begun here in Alaska, this former Russian territory, slow and ultimately halt that devastating history?
That was the question Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin were here to answer as they held their first meeting since the invasion began.
The question was not answered. The summit ended in a fog of diplomatic ambiguity, both sides claiming progress, declaring friendship, but announcing no concrete results.
(Clip from August 15)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We had an extremely productive meeting and many points were agreed to. There are just a very few that are left. Some are not that significant. One is probably the most significant, but we have a very good chance of getting there.
DICKERSON: Scheduled meetings were canceled, lunch called off, questions by a large international contingent of reporters left unasked at a press conference that never happened. It was a muted anticlimactic end to a day that began with a red carpet and a roar.
President Trump clapped for his guest as Putin strode toward him and then bestowed the handshake and the pat he reserves for those with whom he feels solidarity. Above them, the thunder of a B-2 stealth bomber flanked by American fighter jets.
That military flyover was the only faint echo of Mr. Trump`s earlier vow that Putin would face serious consequences if he refused a ceasefire. Come sit by the fire was the feeling instead as a warm reception helped Putin step in from the cold. A frigid reception would have greeted him in any of the 125 countries that abide by the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for Putin accusing him of overseeing the deportation of Ukrainian children, a violation of international law.
Instead, President Trump concluded the greeting by hosting Putin in his limousine. The welcome was a striking contrast to Trump`s sharp Oval Office treatment of Ukraine`s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
(Clip from February 28)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY (Ukrainian President): I was -- I would say that --
TRUMP: You don`t have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards.
ZELENSKYY: I`m not playing cards.
DONALD TRUMP: But right now, you don`t --
ZELENSKYY: I`m very serious, Mr. President.
TRUMP: -- now, you`re playing cards.
ZELENSKYY: I`m very serious.
TRUMP: You`re playing.
ZELENSKYY: I`m the president in war.
TRUMP: You`re gambling with the lives of millions of people.
DICKERSON: In Alaska, Trump ultimately did not accept a Russian proposal that would have compelled Zelenskyy to cede land against his will, the outcome Zelenskyy and European leaders most feared.
But by Saturday, the President had reversed course, echoing Putin`s demand for a peace deal without a ceasefire, leaving Russia free to fight on and build leverage. Monday, the Ukrainian president travels to Washington to get an explanation about that.
Though the Anchorage meeting is over, its history is unfinished. We don`t yet know if the red carpet was all carrot and no stick or bait to draw Putin closer to hear the hard terms.
What is certain is this. Vladimir Putin left Alaska with a prize rarer than gold for a wanted man, applause on American soil from the most powerful leader in the world.
