White House accused of trying to shift narrative on Putin Alaska meeting with 'sad' picture choice | indy100

Trump-Putin summit ends with no ceasefire deal

Aljazeera / VideoElephant

It’s fair to say US president Donald Trump’s talks in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t go exactly to plan. Almost three hours of discussion didn’t result in a ceasefire agreement he said he would sort on day one of his second term, and news channels - Fox News, no less - are reporting that he was “steamrolled” by his Russian counterpart.

And so, in a move which his critics have interpreted as his administration trying to imply Trump had the upper hand, the White House released a photo of the US president pointing a finger at Putin.

“The goal is always peace,” the caption reads.

However, the image choice has been questioned by social media users, who have asked if this was published “to make Trump seem tough”:

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“Trying to make it seem like Trump was being tough with Putin, when he’s actually just gushing over Putin’s tie,” wrote another.

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A third addressed the caption and claimed the goal is “always Epstein file distraction”:

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Over on the Instagram version of the post, one top comment reads: “Lol trying to make it seem like Trump bullied Putin, it was the other way around.”

A second commenter wrote: “HAHAHA y’all posting this picture after news of Trump getting steamrolled by Putin lmao. You’re so sad.”

The US president will meet Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday to discuss the latest developments, when the Ukrainian president will arrive in Washington.

The last time that happened, Donald Trump and vice president JD Vance lashed out at Zelensky in an “appalling” blowout.

Hopefully this time it’s a little more productive.

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