Framed Trump-Putin photo in White House reignites criticism from U.S., European leaders
A photo of President Donald Trump standing side-by-side with Russian President Vladimir Putin hangs inside of the White House — right above a photo of Trump with one of his granddaughters.
The photo has renewed a new wave of criticism for the Trump administration by European officials and U.S. leaders alike.
PBS White House correspondent Elizabeth Landers spotted the photo hanging inside the Palm Room and posted it to X.
The framed photo was taken when Putin and Trump met in Anchorage, Alaska in August for discussions centered around peace deal negotiations with Ukraine. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky was not invited to Alaska.
“The Alaska Summit was a historic moment that helped bring Ukraine and Russia, whose brutal war was brought on by Joe Biden’s incompetence, closer to a deal," White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement to the National News Desk. "This is one of many accomplishments that President Trump chooses to feature at the White House, where photographs are rotated frequently to highlight Presidential travel.”
Trump’s meeting with Putin was his first meeting with the Russian leader since beginning his second term. The two leaders’ meeting garnered scrutiny over Trump’s decision to roll out the red carpet for Putin, who is accused of committing war crimes in his conduct in Ukraine.
"If it is true that the U.S. 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," Marko Mihkelson, the chair of Estonia's parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee commented on Landers’ post.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, suggested that the photo’s placement above his daughter is symbolic.
"Putting Putin above the American people and his own family," Warner wrote.
"Almost a little too on the nose."
Over the weekend, officials from the United States, Ukraine and Russia met in Abu Dhabi to reconvene peace talk negotiations.
