U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he holds a press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin following their meeting to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S., August 15, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon REFILE - QUALITY REPEAT REFILE - CORRECTING "PUTING" TO "PUTIN"

Conservative writer William Kristol railed President Donald Trump’s weakness in the face of Russian leader Vladimir Putin menacing Europe and forging ties with U.S. enemies.

“The United States, under Donald Trump, is now weaker than it has been in a very long time. And the world is more dangerous than it has been in a very long time,” said Kristol, writing for The Bulwark.

Kristol appears disgusted at Trump sending U.S. soldiers to literally “roll out a red carpet” for the authoritarian Russian warlord at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.

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“The nervous American host and the confident Russian visitor met for less than three hours,” Kristol said. “Afterwards, Trump hailed the get-together with the Russian dictator as ‘productive,’ praised Putin’s observations as ‘profound,’ asserted that ‘there were many, many points’ they agreed on, and said that the two had ‘made some headway.’"

But Kristol said the only headway that looks obvious is the headway going “in Putin’s direction.”

“On the U.S. side, it’s been all carrots and no sticks. Trump has successfully pressured Congress not to follow through with long-threatened sanctions against Russia,” said Kristol. “Last week, his administration announced that the United States would end a longstanding program of military support, known as Section 333, for European allies near the border of Russia.”

“Meanwhile, Putin has traveled to Beijing for a more extended lovefest with his fellow dictators, at which actual deals for further cooperation were concluded,” Kristol said, adding that Russia is now carrying out repeated missile and drone attacks on Ukraine, and violating Polish airspace in the process.

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“So Putin is attacking and Trump is retreating,” said Kristol. “That red carpet in Anchorage seems not to have made much of an impression. Or perhaps Putin understood the gesture for what it was: The red carpet was a kind of white flag, a signal of submission and supplication.”

Read the Bulwark report at this link.