Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) criticized President Donald Trump’s recent summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, calling the meeting an embarrassment and accusing the president of failing to confront Russia on key issues.
Speaking Friday on MSNBC’s “The Weeknight,” Swalwell used harsh language in his assessment of the summit.
“If you’re a Republican in Congress, you just saw a Kremlin kiss ass in the president of the United States,” he said.
“Somebody who squandered an opportunity to confront a ruthless dictator who is killing innocent children and kidnapping innocent children every single day.”
Swalwell argued that the meeting did not achieve any tangible outcomes.
“I don’t know what this meeting accomplished other than taking the Epstein files and inflation out of the news, but you have meetings like this to achieve objectives. You don’t just have meetings like this to gather the gang together. It was embarrassing to watch. It was frankly, more embarrassing than the Helsinki conference because he toasted Vladimir Putin as if he was receiving a lifetime achievement award, a total nothing burger, a waste of time,” he said.
The California Democrat also raised questions about Trump’s posture toward Russia in general.
“I don’t know if Donald Trump is or is not a Russian asset,” Swalwell stated.
“I do know that at press conferences like this and like at Helsinki, he certainly acts like one. And that is cold comfort for anyone in the United States, particularly in our military, that the commander in chief would be so flattering of and so charming to a ruthless dictator like Vladimir Putin.”
The Anchorage meeting between Trump and Putin has drawn significant attention in Washington and internationally, with critics and supporters offering starkly different interpretations of the event.
The summit was part of a series of engagements President Trump has undertaken with foreign leaders to address international conflicts, including the ongoing war in Ukraine.
While the White House has not released a full readout of the Anchorage talks, officials indicated that discussions focused on efforts to move toward a lasting peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine.
Trump has said his administration’s priority is not to pursue a temporary ceasefire, but to reach a comprehensive peace agreement that ends the conflict permanently.
The Anchorage summit comes as Trump prepares for additional discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is scheduled to visit the White House on Monday.
The talks are expected to further address possible steps toward direct negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.
Swalwell, who has been a consistent critic of Trump’s approach to foreign policy, framed the Anchorage meeting as a missed opportunity.
His comments add to a chorus of Democratic lawmakers who have questioned Trump’s handling of relations with Russia, particularly in the context of past meetings with Putin, such as the 2018 Helsinki summit.
Supporters of the president have pushed back on similar criticism, noting that Trump has emphasized direct diplomacy as a means of reducing conflict and preventing further bloodshed.
They argue that the president’s negotiations are focused on results rather than optics.
For now, the Anchorage summit remains a point of contention, with political opponents like Swalwell portraying it as a failure, while the administration highlights it as a step toward peace in Eastern Europe.
As the debate continues, Trump’s upcoming meeting with Zelensky is expected to provide more clarity on the administration’s next moves in pursuing a resolution to the war.
