Federal Government

President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Friday at Anchorage’s Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

Here are 12 things to know about the historic, and controversial, summit.

1. Where is the meeting taking place and when?  

Anchorage’s military base: Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

But the White House has, so far, released few other additional details, like at what time they’ll meet and how long they’ll be here.

2. Wait. Why are they meeting in Anchorage? 

President Trump announced last Friday that they’d meet in Alaska. We’re not totally sure how they landed on the location.

Meetings like this often take months to plan, but this one came together in a week. CNN reported that scrambling organizers weighed other Alaska cities, too, and determined Anchorage was the only viable option. Within the city, only JBER met security requirements.

Also, Anchorage is about 4,300 miles from the Kremlin, and about 3,300 miles from the White House, so you could argue it’s sort of a midway point.

Otherwise, Alaska has a long and complicated history with Russia. Russia sold Alaska to the United States in 1867 and, during the Cold War, the Anchorage base was key in countering the Soviet Union.

3. Do we know what they’re talking about? 

Russia’s war with Ukraine.

This will be the first time Trump and Putin will meet face-to-face since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

But the White House has tamped down expectations of a breakthrough that might lead to a ceasefire. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that the meeting will be a “listening exercise” for Trump.

“Only one party that’s involved in this war is going to be present,” Leavitt said. “And so this is for the president to go and to get, again, a more firm and better understanding of how we can hopefully bring this war to an end.”

4. Has Putin ever visited the U.S. before? 

Several times. Most recently, in 2015, he was at the U.N. in New York for tense talks with then-President Obama over Ukraine and Syria. In 2001, he made a state visit, stopping in Washington, D.C., New York and Texas. In 2007, he visited then-President George W. Bush at the family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. He’s also attended multiple international summits.

But this will be the first time Putin, or any Russian president, has visited Alaska.

5. But it’s not uncommon for world leaders to stop at JBER, right?

Right. In its prior incarnation, Elmendorf Air Force Base hosted many visits from presidents and world leaders, often because it was a convenient refueling stop for flights between Washington, D.C., and Asia, or between Europe and Asia. President Nixon and Emperor Hirohito met at the base in 1971, the first time the reigning monarch of Japan set foot on foreign soil. The next year, on his way home after his historic trip to China, Nixon spent the night at the home of Elmendorf’s top general.

Most presidents since statehood have landed at Elmendorf and met with local dignitaries or made some kind of address, including former President Biden and Trump during his first term. President Obama went farther afield on his 2015 trip to Alaska, even visiting Snow City Cafe in downtown Anchorage where he took selfies with fans and ordered cinnamon rolls.

6. Aside from the meeting, do we know what else Trump and Putin are doing in Alaska? 

So far, it looks like they are making a day trip of it. We’ve heard no plans for either of them to leave JBER.

7. Will there be any street closures or other traffic impacts I should know about? 

Not that we know of…yet.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Shannon McCarthy with the Alaska Department of Transportation said there were no anticipated street closures and no known traffic impacts in the city. Any updates on Friday will be posted to 511.alaska.gov.

8. I’m flying in or out of Anchorage on Friday. How will this affect my flight?

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a Temporary Flight Restriction over Anchorage airspace for Friday from 9:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. This restriction mainly impacts all non-commercial flights out of Anchorage airports, including sites like Merrill Field and Lake Hood.

But most commercial flights shouldn’t see any major disruptions, said Lex Yelverton at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. She said some flights in and out of Ted Stevens on Friday may experience minor schedule changes or delays of anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes. It’s likely that the airport won’t receive exact information on which flights will be affected until Friday, so Yelverton said anyone travelling should be prepared for delays and build some extra time into their schedules. She said commercial airlines will have the most up-to-date information about specific flights.

9. Anchorage School District students return to class Thursday and Friday. What’s the district doing to prepare? 

In a message to students and families on Wednesday, ASD said school will go on as planned this week. The message said that schools around JBER, including the three public elementary schools on base, might experience “minor traffic disruptions, depending on how things play out once both presidents arrive.” In some areas of the city, there may be increased security or air activity, but ASD said they’re expecting any impacts to schools to be minimal.

10. What will security be like in the city?

Anchorage Police Department spokesman Chris Barraza said city police will have an increased presence around town, with additional officers on patrol starting late Thursday night. There will also be increased security on Friday at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, according to the airport spokesperson.

11. Do we expect a big influx of people in the city for the meeting?

Yes.

Barraza, at APD, estimated 700 journalists from all over the world will be arriving in Anchorage this week. As of Wednesday afternoon, he couldn’t provide an exact number for dignitaries or other visitors related to the summit. And, of course, there are already a lot of visitors here because it’s peak tourism season in Alaska.

12. Are there any protests or rallies planned? 

Yes. There are protests and demonstrations planned all over the state in support of Ukraine and democracy, including in Homer, Fairbanks, Sitka and Petersburg.

In Anchorage, there are a few planned demonstrations: a peaceful protest in solidarity with Ukraine at 4:30 p.m. Thursday near the Midtown Mall, at the intersection of the Seward Highway and East Northern Lights Boulevard. Another protest is planned for noon on Friday on 510 L Street. Plus, Anchorage Stands with Ukraine plans to put up a massive Ukrainian flag on the Park Strip Friday afternoon.

The Alaska Republican Party is also planning a rally in support of Trump near the Midtown Mall on Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The White House has selected Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson for Friday’s meeting of President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, multiple media outlets are reporting. The reports don’t mention what time the leaders will meet.

The Trump administration has announced few details so far, but White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that the meeting will be a “listening exercise” for Trump and that the two presidents are expected to meet one on one to discuss Russia’s war with Ukraine.

“Only one party that’s involved in this war is going to be present,” Leavitt said. “And so this is for the president to go and to get, again, a more firm and better understanding of how we can hopefully bring this war to an end.”

Meanwhile, progressives in Anchorage are planning demonstrations. Stand UP Alaska and Alaska March On, among other groups, announced they plan to demonstrate Thursday at 4:30 in Midtown and Friday at noon outside the Anchorage offices of Alaska’s U.S. senators.

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The U.S. Coast Guard officially added the first icebreaker to its fleet in over 25 years during a ceremony on Sunday in Juneau – its future home port.

The ship’s commissioning signals an expanding U.S. military presence in the Arctic Ocean. But the icebreaker is also looking to overcome its past after a tumultuous maiden voyage more than a decade ago.

Down in the engine room of the Storis on Saturday, U.S. Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander George Greendyk walked in narrow passageways between loud diesel engines that slowly thrust the ship through the placid waters of Stephens Passage.

“We’re getting to the point where we’re pretty comfortable pretty much with the majority of the ship’s operations,” Greendyk said. “Now we just need to get control of the things that pop up only every once in a while.”

The Storis joins the Healy and the Polar Star as the third polar icebreaker that the U.S. military owns.

Juneau residents may have glimpsed the large red and white ship through the fog over the weekend, but it was only here for a little while before heading north.

Captain Corey Kerns said the icebreaker’s mission over the next couple of months has two main purposes: assert U.S. sovereignty and learn how to operate the ship, which is unlike any other in their fleet.

“In this case, we need Arctic presence was the most important thing.

He said that the U.S. has failed to keep pace with other nations, including Russia and China, in building polar icebreakers capable of navigating the waters of the far north. So Congress made the Coast Guard buy this one from the American company Edison Chouest Offshore for $125 million dollars.

“So we’re willing to take some risk or forced into it, because our shipbuilding projects are so behind, you know, to be honest,” Kerns said.

The Storis had some issues in its past life.

The ship was originally called Aiviq and was built to support oil drilling in the Arctic. It famously lost control of a Shell oil rig off the coast of Kodiak during its maiden voyage in 2012.

After the oil rig ran aground, government reports concluded there were issues with how the icebreaker was designed and with how the crew handled it in dangerous waters.

One of the main issues was the location of the fuel vents. Seawater flowed into the vents and caused the diesel engines to fail. Kerns says they’ve fixed that issue.

“So those were raised a little bit higher, which means you could take more water in vicinity of them before it would down-flood,” he said. “So not that it couldn’t possibly happen again, but it’s less likely.”

In addition to raising the fuel vents, the other major changes to the ship were painting the hull red, installing military satellite communication systems and adding an armory.

Kerns said the crisis with the oil rig was also a result of how the crew made decisions at the time.

“If you’re towing 100,000-ton ship in like 40-foot seas, that’s restricting the movement of your ship. No amount of design is going to save you from a bad, bad situation,” he said.

Before getting a ride-along for press and families of the crew underway, the ship sat at Auke Bay Ferry Terminal. The voyage was delayed for around two hours.

Kearns said a propeller malfunction was to blame. But it would be a quick fix once they got downtown.

“That’s some of the growing pains of us learning,” he said.

They’re learning from a civilian crew with Edison Chouest that is contracted to train the Coast Guard.

Commander Philip Baxa, chief of the Coast Guard’s Aids to Navigation and Ice Capabilities Division, helped negotiate the purchase of Storis. He said the ship’s home port will be Juneau — once the infrastructure is built.

“It doesn’t just stop at the waterfront with a pier. It’s the warehouses and workshops for our maintainers, but it’s also the housing units for the crew members and their families,” Baxa said.

The recent Trump-signed funding bill allocated $300 million to build the port. Baxa said it will take around a decade and that building sites have not yet been decided. He expects roughly 100 crew members and maintenance workers will be stationed in town.

The ship is planning to visit Seward, Kodiak and Dutch Harbor, then will head north through the Bering Strait over the next couple of months. Port calls are subject to change.

Four days before a scheduled meeting with the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, over the possibility of a ceasefire that could pause the Russian invasion of Ukraine, President Donald Trump has yet to announce a firm location or timing.

Trump said last week on social media that he would meet Putin in Alaska on Friday.

Speaking to reporters Monday at the White House, Trump said he would seek to temporarily end the fighting that has resulted since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

He said he isn’t certain what a long-term peace deal would involve, but it likely would entail “some swapping … some changes in land,” he said.

“We’re going to change the lines, the battle lines. Russia has occupied a big portion of Ukraine. They’ve occupied some very prime territory. We’re going to try and get some of that territory back for Ukraine. But they’ve taken some very prime territory,” Trump said.

In a video address Sunday, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared to reject the idea of surrendering land for peace, saying in part that “Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier.”

Zelenskyy has not been invited to Trump’s talks with Putin.

In meandering remarks Monday, Trump twice appeared to misstate the location of the expected talks, saying at one point, “We’re going to Russia,” before correctly returning to Alaska as the location.

“I thought it was very respectful that the president of Russia is coming to our country instead of us going to his country or a third-party place. I think we’ll have constructive conversations, and then after that meeting, immediately — maybe as I’m flying out, maybe as I’m leaving the room — I’ll be calling the European leaders who I get along with very well and have a great relationship with, I think, all of them,” Trump said Monday.

“I get along with Zelenskyy, but I disagree with what he’s done, very very severely disagree. This is a war that shouldn’t have happened … but I’ll be speaking with Zelenskyy. The next meeting will be with Zelenskyy and Putin, or Zelenskyy, Putin and me. I’ll be there if they need, but I want to have a meeting set up between the two leaders,” Trump said.

Asked what he would consider a good deal between Russia and Ukraine, the president said he hasn’t made up his mind.

“I’ll tell you after I hear what the deal is, because there could be many definitions,” Trump said.

“We’re going to have a meeting with Vladimir Putin,” he said, “and at the end of that meeting, probably in the first two minutes, I’ll know exactly whether or not a deal can be, because that’s what I do.”

President Donald Trump said he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Aug.15 in Alaska. Trump made the announcement on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Friday.

“The highly anticipated meeting between myself, as President of the United States of America, and President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, will take place next Friday, August 15, 2025, in the Great State of Alaska,” Trump wrote in the post.

Trump’s post did not specify where in Alaska the meeting would take place and said more details would come soon.

The meeting comes amid frustration from the Trump administration over continued fighting between Russia and Ukraine, more than three years after Russia’s invasion in 2022. The Associated Press reports that the president said he will meet with Putin before any sit-down meeting involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

This will be Trump’s first trip to the state since being reelected last year, but it won’t be his first time in the state as president. In 2019, he visited Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson while flying back to the U.S. from a summit in Vietnam. He also held a campaign rally in Anchorage in 2022 to show support for U.S. Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka and U.S. House candidate Sarah Palin.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Medicaid coverage throughout the country will change starting in 2027 due to President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which the U.S. Congress passed in July. But in Alaska, experts say those changes will look very different from other states.

Emily Ricci, the deputy commissioner of Alaska’s Department of Health, spoke about what the state can expect with the new Medicaid rules Wednesday on the program “Line One.” She said Alaska’s federal match for funding the insurance program won’t change because it doesn’t rely on two funding mechanisms impacted by the bill.

“Alaska is not impacted by reductions to those programs that were contained in the reconciliation bill,” Ricci said. “And that’s important to understand, because every other state will likely experience some form of reduction in the kind of federal share of Medicaid dollars that is going to their state associated with those two programs.”

In 2024, the federal government paid about three-quarters of Medicaid spending in Alaska overall. It’s health insurance for people who are low-income or disabled.

Ricci said one major change is that some able-bodied adults on Medicaid will need to fulfill so-called “community engagement requirements” to keep their coverage. She said a variety of activities will be allowed.

“They include things like education, so being a student, being in a vocational school or technical school,” she said. “They involve volunteering, and they also involve employment. There’s also opportunities that are in the bill for individuals who engage in seasonal employment.”

She said community engagement requirements won’t apply to several groups of people like pregnant people, people who are Alaska Native or American Indian or parents with young children under 13. She said communities will also be able to apply for “hardship exemptions” if they have high enough unemployment rates.