Trump lashes out at 'fired loser' John Bolton for declaring Putin's victory ahead of Alaska summit

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump lashed out at the media and his former national security adviser, John Bolton, over criticism of his upcoming Ukraine summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The summit is scheduled for Friday in Alaska, but Trump accused the press of favoring his critics and dismissed Bolton’s warnings about the meeting, insisting he was “winning on everything.”

Donald Trump calls media 'sick and dishonest' over Putin meeting coverage

In an online post on Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump wrote, “Very unfair media is at work on my meeting with Putin."

He said the media was "Constantly quoting fired losers and really dumb people like John Bolton, who just said that, even though the meeting is on American soil, ‘Putin has already won.’ What’s that all about? We are winning on everything. The fake news is working overtime (no tax on overtime)!”

Bolton, who served as Trump’s national security adviser until his dismissal in 2019, has long pushed for strong US backing of Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. He argued that hosting Putin on American soil was a strategic win for Moscow.

John Bolton says Alaska summit is 'a great victory for Putin'

During a CNN appearance on 'The Source' last Friday, Bolton said, “Well, it’s very gracious of Putin to come to former Russian America for this summit. This is not quite as bad as Trump inviting the Taliban to Camp David to talk about the peace negotiations in Afghanistan, but it certainly reminds one of that.”

He added, “The only better place for Putin than Alaska would be if the summit were being held in Moscow. So, the initial setup, I think, is a great victory for Putin. He’s a rogue leader of a pariah state and he’s going to be welcomed into the United States.”

Bolton suggested Geneva or Austria as better neutral meeting locations, noting Putin’s 2023 arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court “could have been waived.” He warned that Putin may attempt to “take advantage” of Trump during the summit.

Trump was angered by the media giving airtime to Bolton’s statements. “They are sick and dishonest people, who probably hate our country,” Trump wrote.

“But it doesn’t matter because we are winning on everything!”

Putin has said he will only end the war if Russia gains control over large parts of eastern Ukraine, a demand at odds with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s position.

Online reactions divided as people slam Trump, John Bolton and media

Online reactions to the upcoming meeting were sharply divided.

“If Trump comes away from the meeting on Friday ready to kick Putin/Muscovy out of Ukraine ... AND directly and immediately takes some actions ... THEN he can claim to be winning. And I SERIOUSLY doubt that'll happen,” one user wrote on X.

Another posted, “Trump is an absolute imbecile. Expect nothing good for Ukraine from his a*s-kissing session with Putin.”

One more added, “It’s true he’s winning at home but this Russian meeting in Alaska is a failure from the start. He’s overly confident.”

"Trump whining about media while cozying up to putin is peak irony. if he’s ‘winning’, why does every meeting with moscovia end with ukraine’s allies nervous?," added another. 

Some users sided with Trump, calling Bolton irrelevant. “Bolton’s a bitter reject who’s been dining out on his firing for years, and the media eats it up like gospel. They’d call free cities a bad deal just to hate Trump,” one user wrote.

Another said, “Bolton is a nobody. Trump shouldn’t even bother replying to anything that fool has to say.”

A third user commented, “‘Constantly quoting fired losers and really dumb people’ Hahahaha. That pretty much covers most Democrats leaders lately!”

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