File this under shocking but not surprising. Donald Trump will be in Alaska tomorrow to negotiate a resolution to the war in Ukraine. It is expected that he will want to cede Ukrainian territories to Vladimir Putin because he spoke earlier of “swapping territories” and that Volodymyr Zelensky “needs to be ready to sign something.” And what is Trump prepared to sign? Evidently, he’s planning to offer access to Alaska’s natural resources, in addition to giving Putin mineral rights in Ukraine.
According to The Telegraph on August 13, US President Donald Trump is preparing to offer Russian leader Vladimir Putin a series of economic incentives to end the ongoing war in Ukraine. […]
“There are a range of incentives, in which a potential mineral/rare earth deal could be one,” a source with knowledge of the proposals told The Telegraph. This deal would grant Putin access to valuable minerals in Ukraine’s eastern regions, particularly lithium, which is used in the production of batteries.
Ukraine is believed to hold 10 percent of the world’s lithium reserves, two-thirds of which are located in areas under Russian control.
Trump also discussed lifting sanctions on Russian airlines, a move that could benefit US manufacturers like Boeing. Russian airlines, currently operating a fleet of over 700 planes, could once again turn to American suppliers for maintenance and critical parts. This comes after recent incidents, including the crash of a Soviet-era Antonov An-24 and a cyber attack that grounded several Aeroflot flights.
In addition to the mineral and aviation proposals, Trump is considering opening Alaska’s valuable natural resources, especially oil and gas reserves, to Russia. Alaska’s proximity to Russia—just three miles across the Bering Strait—makes this an attractive option for Putin’s strategic interests in the Arctic region, which accounted for 80 percent of Russia’s gas production in 2022.
However, UK government sources emphasized to The Telegraph that while these incentives may be acceptable to Europe, the terms of any agreement must avoid rewarding Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
“The sense is that it has to be presented to align with public opinion around this; it cannot be seen as a reward for Putin,” one source stated.
In an interview with Bloomberg, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent emphasized that President Donald Trump is committed to ending the war in Ukraine but is determined to do so “not at any cost.”
And of course there’s the usual noise making about if Putin doesn’t do what is demanded then there will be “sanctions” and “secondary tariffs.” That will be believed when it’s seen. Scott Bessent, who is apparently running foreign policy for the government now, made this comment, “I’m not going to get ahead of the president, but the president is the best at creating leverage for himself, and he will make it clear to Putin that all options are on the table.” All options being what, precisely? It would have been nice if Bessent had defined what that term meant, too. It is read between the lines time now, which is not a good place to be less than 24 hours before a major summit between two world leaders that can have a major effect on the geopolitical reality we live in.
And Bessent set up what the excuse is going to be when Trump falls on his face tomorrow, as is anticipated: It’s Europe’s fault.
“I was at the G7 meeting in Canada with President Trump, and the Europeans kept talking about Senator Graham’s bill to impose secondary tariffs. And I looked at all the leaders around the table, and I said: Is everyone at this table willing to put a 200 percent secondary tariff on China? And you know what? Everybody wanted to see what kind of shoes they were wearing.”
Bessent concluded, “It’s put up or shut up time. The President is creating his own leverage. We need the Europeans to come in and help create more leverage.”
This was the G7 meeting in Canada that Trump bailed on early because he was making such an ass out of himself, as you may recall. So it would be interesting indeed to check out a transcript of what few negotiations the United States did in fact participate in and what was actually said. Maybe what Bessent reports as being a confrontation was some offhand comment that was not made on the record. That’s how things are done in this government nowadays, anything to make the cult leader look good. But Bessent is right about one thing, “We need the Europeans to come in,” because when all is said and done that’s who is running the show. Trump cannot and that’s clear.
We’ll see what happens tomorrow but it looks like Trump will roll over for whatever Putin does. Here’s an interesting clip where a reporter asked Trump about Russia hacking into our court system. Blase doesn’t even begin to describe it.
Q: New reporting reveals Russia hacked U.S. federal court systems, Do you plan to bring this up with Putin?
Trump: “I guess I could. Are you surprised? You know. Are you surprised? They hack in — that's what they do.”
Traitor
pic.twitter.com/SOvLxABJM9— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) August 13, 2025
“Hey, espionage is what they do. Invading foreign countries is what they do. Having useful idiots like me is what they do. Are you surprised? Will you be surprised when I give away Alaska, one piece at a time? Pleasing Putin and fucking up, that’s what I do.”
God this is so damned depressing and equally so damned nauseating. Putin the Butcher walks onto US soil to meet with the convicted criminal who’s president. A pretend president who will kiss Vladimir’s privates in public and then declare himself the defender of American values. As for Ukraine, he’ll try to give away just about all of it if that’s what Putin suggests. Time for Europe to stand up indeed, because we Americans won’t.