On Friday afternoon, August 15, 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin set foot on U.S. soil when he met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Anchorage, Alaska. Originally, it was supposed to be a one-on-one meeting between Putin and Trump, but thanks to a change of plans, U.S. Secretary of State Mario Rubio and special envoy John Witkoff were added to the meeting along with two Russian officials.
MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace offered in-depth coverage of the meeting on her afternoon show "Deadline: White House," including an appearance by former CIA Director John O. Brennan — who thought that Putin had "the stronger hand."
2016 Democratic presidential nominee and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton commented that if Trump really could negotiate an end to the "terrible" Russia/Ukraine War, she would be all in favor of Trump receiving the Nobel Peace Prize — a comment that, Brennan said "made me laugh."
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Brennan told Wallace — a Never Trump conservative who served as White House communications director under former President George W. Bush — "There is no way Putin is going to give up the territory that he has gained in Ukraine willingly. This is not something that is in his personality: to be able to just withdraw and to acknowledge publicly that he made a mistake. So again, Donald Trump, who believes he's the, you know, the world's best negotiator…. I think he realizes that this is something way, way beyond his ability to even influence in a very positive direction."
The former CIA director continued, "What's going to happen in these meetings? I don't know. I hope that Donald Trump stays strong, pushes for a ceasefire across the board — not just an air ceasefire, but on the battlefield. Freeze that so we can stop some of this suffering. But I really don't see Vladimir Putin reneging or pulling out of the territory that he's in now. But I would second the nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize of Hillary Clinton for Donald Trump, if, in fact, that happens. But I see the chances of that being next to zero."
When Wallace noted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was "excluded" from the Trump/Putin meeting in Alaska, Brennan didn't find that surprising.
Brennan told the Wallace, "I think (Trump) recognizes that his ability to really change the trajectory of this conflict is limited, and therefore, Vladimir Putin, I think, has the stronger hand — not only because he is far more experienced and far more knowledgeable about the region, the history of the conflict and so on. Donald Trump, I think, recognizes he's out of his element here. And that's why I do think he's a bit worried. But he will still try to put as much, you know, lipstick on the proverbial pig as possible…. but again, this is part of Donald Trump kicking the can down the road as he is apt to do."
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