A photograph of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin from the Alaska summit is displayed in the White House. Photo / Getty Images
A photograph of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin from the Alaska summit is displayed in the White House. Photo / Getty Images
A photograph of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin standing side by side in Alaska has been framed and put on display in the White House.
The posed portrait of the US and Russian presidents, taken at the Alaska summit in August, has been hung on a wall in the PalmRoom, which links the West Wing to the presidential residence.
Below it, in a matching gold frame of the same size, is a photo of Trump with his granddaughter, Carolina Dorothy Trump, 6.
The photograph appears to be the same image Trump showed off to reporters in the Oval Office in August, telling them it had been sent to him by Putin following their summit in Anchorage.
Trump said he thought the Russian leader looked “nice” in the photo, which recorded the first face-to-face meeting between US and Russian leaders since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Critics say displaying Putin, accused of war crimes, dishonours the office. Photo / Getty Images
He said at the time: “Okay of me, but nice of him. So that was very nice that it was sent to me.” He added that he planned to autograph the photo and send it back to Putin.
The decision to use a White House wall to display a portrait of the US President with a Russian leader accused of war crimes caused widespread anger.
Democratic Senator Mark Warner, from Virginia, who sits on the intelligence committee, said, “Putting Putin above the American people and his own family. Almost a little too on the nose.”
Meanwhile, Marko Mihkelson, the chairman of Estonia’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee, suggested it made him question the chances of a swift ending to the Russia-Ukraine War.
He said: “If it is true that the US President considers it appropriate to hang on the White House wall a photo of the greatest war criminal of the 21st century, then a just and sustainable peace will have to wait. Unfortunately.”
But Russia seemed pleased with the display. Kirill Dmitriev, its top negotiator in the Ukraine peace process, said: “Good. A picture is worth a thousand words.”
Trump and Putin met at the Alaska summit for almost three hours, but left without announcing a deal or any specific areas where they made headway.
Putin said they had reached an agreement to “pave the path towards peace”, but Trump made clear there were still areas of disagreement, saying: “There’s no deal until there’s a deal.”
While offensive to many, the decision to display the photograph will not surprise observers who have noted Trump’s often contradictory rhetoric toward the Russian president.
During the 2024 election campaign and at the start of his second term, Trump promised to end the war in Ukraine in a day. At times, he praised Putin while at others he sharply criticised him.
In March, Trump said he was “very angry” with the Russian president over stalled peace talks. Weeks later, he wrote on Truth Social that Putin had “gone absolutely crazy”.
Despite this, Trump offered Putin a warm reception in Alaska, complete with ceremonial honours and a ride in The Beast (the US presidential limousine).
A White House official told US media it was routine for photographs of the president’s public engagements, including meetings with foreign leaders, to be displayed throughout the White House and that such images were rotated regularly.
The White House has not formally commented on the placement of the Putin photograph.
Sign up to Herald Premium Editor’s Picks, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week’s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here.
