How Trump Gained the Upper Hand with Putin. Plus. . .

It’s Thursday, August 14. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: How a Wall Street bigwig went from partying with George Soros to playing tennis at Mar-a-Lago. Three cheers for the return of the Presidential Fitness Test. And what China’s persecution of Hong Kong dissident Jimmy Lai says about the West. 

But first: What you need to know about tomorrow’s Trump-Putin summit. 

While he was campaigning for a second term, Donald Trump repeatedly promised that he would be able to bring Russia’s war in Ukraine to an end “in 24 hours” after taking office. That didn’t happen. 

Now, with Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin scheduled to sit down in Anchorage, Alaska tomorrow, Trump is threatening to impose “very severe consequences” on Russia if the two leaders can’t broker a ceasefire deal at the summit. His announcement came after the White House spent days downplaying expectations for the meeting, only for Trump to raise them at the last minute. In a call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders on Wednesday, Trump said the purpose of the meeting was to figure out a way to end the war.

The war has raged for three-and-a-half years—ever since Putin invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, with an eye toward erasing not only Ukraine’s borders but its history, its heritage, and its national identity. Roughly 250,000 Russian troops have been killed, and more than 700,000 have been injured. As many as 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers have lost their lives; another 300,000 or so have been wounded.

So what can we really expect from tomorrow’s get-together in Anchorage? In our lead story today, Matthew Continetti takes an in-depth look at whether Trump, fresh off a string of diplomatic victories, can outmaneuver Putin at the conference table now that he’s shown his willingness to push back on Moscow. 

Meanwhile, I spoke to Victor Sebestyen—an award-winning journalist who’s been covering Russia and Eastern Europe for decades—about what’s driving Putin, and whether we can ever expect him to agree to peace. 

—Peter Savodnik

• Swedish pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis set the 13th world record of his career in Budapest. Duplantis cleared 6.29 meters, making it his third broken record of this year alone. (For more on Duplantis, read our 2024 Olympics coverage.)

• The Trump administration has announced that they will begin a comprehensive review of all present and future content on display at the Smithsonian Institution, and on its digital platforms. In a letter sent to secretary of the Smithsonian Lonnie G. Bunch III, the White House said they planned “to assess tone, historical framing, and alignment with American ideals,” and intend on “replacing divisive or ideologically driven language with unifying, historically accurate, and constructive descriptions.”

• The Mexican government extradited 26 suspected cartel leaders to the U.S. on Tuesday, including several suspects linked to global terrorist organizations. Mexico’s decision came after consistent pressure and tariff threats from President Trump. According to the Justice Department, the extradited individuals face charges “relating to drug-trafficking, hostage-taking, kidnapping, illegal use of firearms, human smuggling, money laundering, the murder of a sheriff’s deputy, and other crimes.”

• Wildfires raged across Europe Wednesday, following days of extreme heat in the region. The fires have concentrated in Spain, Greece, Turkey, Montenegro, and Albania, killing at least four and injuring dozens more. In Greece, 5,000 firefighters and 62 aircraft have been sent into action. 

• GE Appliances announced a $3 billion investment in American factories over the next five years. The plan will help the company, now owned by a Chinese conglomerate, soften the impact of President Trump’s tariffs on China and Mexico by reshoring much of their manufacturing. GE Appliances intends to add a thousand jobs across five states in America. 

• California governor Gavin Newsom is moving forward with congressional redistricting plans that he says “WILL END THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY,” and give Democrats control of the House of Representatives in 2026. “CALIFORNIA WILL NOW DRAW NEW, MORE ‘BEAUTIFUL MAPS,’ THEY WILL BE HISTORIC AS THEY WILL END THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY (DEMS TAKE BACK THE HOUSE!),” the governor’s press office posted Tuesday, in an imitation of Trump’s style. Newsom’s move comes amid a heated dispute over redistricting attempts in Texas and other states.

• A $16 billion merger is set to take place in China this week, joining two of the country’s biggest shipmaking companies into the single largest in the world. The deal will both increase China’s economic power and strengthen its supply of naval materials. The order book for the combined companies will include over 530 vessels and 54 million deadweight tons, with an annual revenue of around $18 billion.

• American Eagle’s viral Sydney Sweeney ad campaign has split young people along partisan lines. A new poll from Generation Lab surveyed undergraduate and graduate students across the country, and found that 42 percent of Democrats said the ad made them less likely to buy jeans from American Eagle, compared to 16 percent of Republicans. (For more on Sydney Sweeney’s jeans/genes, read Kara Kennedy’s excellent piece.)

• U.S. cuts to foreign aid programs have stifled anti-poaching efforts in Africa, allowing Mexican cartels and Chinese triads to supercharge their trafficking efforts. Around $23 billion in illegal wildlife is traded on the black market each year, and many agencies relied on USAID to block it. “The traffickers are loving it,” one conservationist said.

• Drinking rates in the U.S. have hit a record low. According to a new Gallup poll, only 54 percent of adults reported that they drink alcohol, an eight percentage point decrease from 2023. 

• A nuclear power plant in France was forced to shut down after being hit with a “massive” jellyfish swarm. The jellyfish have blocked four reactors, and may reproduce even more rapidly in the extreme heat.