In today’s issue:

▪ Trump: Agenda with Putin ‘like chess’

▪ AG Bondi federalizes DC police control

▪ States’ redistricting arms race escalates

▪ Trump shores up Social Security support

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President Trump today faces the most critical test yet of his ability to deliver on his promise to make peace in Ukraine.

The president will depart for Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on the outskirts of Anchorage, Alaska, for a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine.

Trump is expected in Anchorage midafternoon Eastern time. The initial meeting with Putin will take place with just the two leaders and translators, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Thursday.

The summit comes on the heels of a whirlwind week of preparations, including calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European allies, who sought to stiffen Trump’s spine this week, hoping to steer him away from any talk of territorial concessions.

The Hill’s Laura Kelly breaks down what Trump, Zelensky and Putin are looking to get out of the Alaska summit.

Follow along with The Hill’s live coverage.

PEACEMAKER: The president has repeatedly cast himself as a force for peace in the world and makes no secret of his goal of winning a Nobel Peace Prize.

“My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier,” he said during his second inaugural address. “That’s what I want to be: a peacemaker and a unifier.”

In 2024, Trump campaigned on a pledge to end the war in Ukraine — which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 — within 24 hours of taking office, remarks he later said were sarcastic. Seven months into Trump’s second term, Putin has been a brick wall, refusing any concessions toward peace and only increasing the severity of attacks on Ukraine.

▪ The Hill: Five key questions ahead of the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska.

▪ BBC: In maps: The war-ravaged Ukrainian territories at the heart of the Trump-Putin summit.

▪ The Hill: GOP momentum for a Ukraine aid package grows as Trump sits down with Putin.

Trump said Thursday he expects “a good meeting” with Putin, but he said the most important meeting will be the one after that, with Russia, Ukraine and perhaps European leaders.

Trump told Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade on Thursday that his negotiations with Putin and Zelensky are “like chess.”

“This meeting sets up the second meeting. The second meeting is going to be very, very important, because that’s going to be a meeting where they make a deal,” Trump said. “But there is a 25 percent chance this meeting will not be a successful meeting.”

Putin said Thursday that Trump was making “energetic and sincere efforts” toward peace in Ukraine, according to a readout obtained by NBC News. The Russian leader suggested those efforts could “create long-term conditions of peace between our countries and in Europe, and in the world as a whole,” particularly if the negotiations are extended to cover strategic offensive weapons treaties.

▪ The Wall Street Journal: Finnish President Alexander Stubb is a Trump whisperer when it comes to Russia. It helps that he loves golf.

▪ The New York Times: Russia and Ukraine agree: A Trump summit is a big win for Putin.

▪ The Washington Post: How Putin, an ex-KGB officer, will seek to sway Trump at Alaska summit.

UPPER HAND? But some European officials have expressed concerns that Trump could still be........

© The Hill