Heat in Alaska: "We Have an Idiot in the White House; Putin Should Be in Prison"

“Putin should be in jail, and he just came to Alaska like that,” Hannah Correia told the BBC. She was among a crowd of Alaskans waving Ukrainian flags along the road leading to Anchorage.

Correia, 40, left Ukraine in 2019 for love, and six years later, the future of her homeland could be shaped in her new hometown.

Trump and Putin are scheduled to land at Elmendorf–Richardson Air Force Base, about a 30-minute drive from Anchorage. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was not invited, something Correia describes as “quite sad.”

Among the protesters was Christopher Kellier, 53, a military veteran and lifelong Alaskan.

“It’s disgusting; you want to take a shower right away. Putin should not be in our federal state, let alone in our country. We have an idiot in the White House who will fawn over him,” he said of the meeting.

Alaska’s Historical Ties to Russia

Alaska’s history with Moscow gives the summit added weight. The United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million. Critics at the time dismissed the acquisition as “Seward’s folly,” calling it a frozen wasteland. Later discoveries of rare minerals and abundant oil and gas proved them wrong.

Decorated Orthodox churches remain some of the most visible symbols of Russian heritage in the state. St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Church in Anchorage is holding three days of prayer ahead of the leaders’ arrival. Rev. Nicholas Craigle, an American who recently moved to Alaska after seven years in Russia, said the conflict is “particularly painful and close to the hearts” of his parishioners.

“We hope that this meeting will lead to something… to an end to this conflict,” Craigle said.

Mixed Local Reactions

Some Alaskans support the summit. Don Kresley, from the town of North Pole, came to Anchorage to fish with his grandson, but also shared his thoughts on the meeting.

“I think the summit is a good idea. I wish Zelensky were here to finish this,” he said.

He wants the war to end “because of the destruction of all cities, all buildings, because more and more people are left without homes, because they are deprived of food, supplies, means of living.” Kresley added that Trump is doing a “fantastic job” in negotiating a ceasefire.