Decoding Trump’s Red-Carpet for Putin in Alaska as Europe Erupts

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Ian Bremmer argues Trump gravitates toward strongmen like Putin and MBS because democratic allies neither like nor respect him

By TRH Global Affairs Desk

NEW DELHI, August 16, 2025 — US President Donald Trump’s latest embrace of Vladimir Putin in Alaska says more about Trump than it does about Russia. The pomp and circumstance — a red-carpet welcome at a US military base, glowing compliments, and vague talk of “progress” — underscored a pattern Ian Bremmer captured bluntly: “Trump prefers the company of autocrats.”

As Bremmer wrote on LinkedIn, “Trump has long preferred Putin’s company to that of most leaders of U.S. allies. Not because Putin has some sort of secret leverage over Trump. But because Trump knows European, Canadian, Australian and other democratic leaders neither like nor respect him.”

In other words, Trump’s affinity for Putin, Mohammed bin Salman, and other strongmen stems from comfort, not conspiracy. With them, Trump faces no lectures on democratic norms, no talk of checks and balances, no awkward smiles masking disdain.

The Alaska Summit made this dynamic glaring. Putin walked away from diplomatic isolation without offering a ceasefire in Ukraine or any meaningful concessions. Trump, for his part, basked in the optics of hosting a world power on American soil — optics that many analysts say amounted to a propaganda coup for Moscow.

Reactions to Bremmer’s post reflect the fault lines. Supporters like David Salzillo Jr. agree Trump has “clearly helped Putin thus far.” Critics like Dr. Ian O accuse Bremmer of partisanship, insisting Trump was democratically elected to serve American interests, not to curry favour with allies who never respected him.

And economic observers like Javier Blas remind us that Trump’s only real lever on Putin is oil: pushing Saudi Arabia to flood the market and keep prices low to fight inflation at home, collateral damage to U.S. shale producers be damned.

Strip away the rhetoric and the Alaska Summit reinforced a deeper truth: Trump identifies more with rulers who wield unchecked power than with leaders bound by institutions and democratic accountability. To him, Putin isn’t an adversary to contain but a kindred spirit to entertain.

That may be smart politics for Trump’s base. But for America’s allies — watching the red carpet roll out for a man waging war in Ukraine — it was another reminder that when Trump shakes hands with autocrats, he shakes the foundations of US leadership.

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