Alaska Anchorage abuzz ahead of Trump-Putin summit – but ‘please don’t sell us back’

 The locals are hopeful that the meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin on Friday won't be disastrous for them. Andy Moderow, who works at an Anchorage conservation organization, stated, "I'm looking forward to taking my boat out on the water at Prince William Sound – that's my plan." The Alaska Landmine news site's proprietor, Jeff Landfield, stated, "We've had a pretty good summer." completing projects, going camping, hunting, and fishing, and four-wheeling. But it’s coming to the close of the season, so I’ve seen several people say, ‘They better not fuck up my plans.’”

The largest city in Alaska, Anchorage sits farther north than Oslo and St Petersburg.  With a population of just under 300,000 people, its low-slung downtown sits on mud flats above the Cook Inlet, at the base of the Chugach mountains.  Its wide streets are lined with strip malls and stands of birch, and the downtown shops sell souvenirs with bear and moose themes as well as Alaska Native crafts.

According to Colleen Heaney-Mead, who runs a daycare in Anchorage, residents view themselves as having "an independent streak" and refer to the rest of the United States as "the lower 48." She stated, referring to the actions taken by the Trump administration throughout the contiguous United States, "We don't want to be part of whatever is happening there." “We don’t have to do everything they do.”

 The city has previously hosted high-profile diplomacy, as evidenced by Friday's summit. On his way back from a meeting with Donald Trump in Florida, China's president Xi Jinping dined on king salmon and crab bisque in the city in 2017. Two years later, Chinese diplomats and officials from the Biden administration met in Anchorage for a heated discussion during which they publicly criticized one another for violating human rights and engaging in systemic racism.

In Alaska, Russia is not an abstract enemy but a close neighbor; its jets buzz Alaskan airspace, its government is said to be undercutting Alaskan fishermen.  The residents of Anchorage are torn between excitement and trepidation regarding the significance of a high-profile visit. Hollis French, a former state senator who was a member of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, stated, "You feel like Anchorage is back on the map in a way, which I think everyone sort of enjoys." Despite the fact that I had dinner with two friends last night, we were all somewhat pessimistic and skeptical. I would say that we anticipate something terrible from Trump. In a region that was a part of the Russian empire until it was sold to the United States in 1867, Trump's announcement that he was going to meet Putin "in Russia" also set off alarm bells. Heaney-Mead stated, "There's the satirical response that Alaskans have: Please don't sell us back." Moderow, who grew up at the end of the cold war, said fallout shelters and nuclear drills were some of his earliest memories, even if Alaskan politicians, such as the 2008 vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, at times make a bit much of the short distance between the two countries.

He stated, "Russia is a neighbor." “If you’ve grown up in the state, you are aware of Russia, and its proximity – even though Sarah Palin kind of oversold it in her debate.”

French added, "We are aware that they are a hostile neighbor," in agreement. We recognize that they are testing our defenses and react accordingly. The majority of people, I believe, are aware that the nation's leader is not the nation itself. However, Putin undoubtedly subdued his people. As a result, I believe Alaskans are wary of him. Landfield made reference to the Old Believers, a Russian Orthodox sect brought to Alaska by Russians fleeing oppression over the years, and to the longstanding cultural ties between Russia and Alaska, such as university exchange programs. People are not fond of Putin. He stated, "It is not Russia or Russians." Russia is not, in my opinion, our adversary. Anchorage-based political reporter Matt Acua Buxton stated that there is "a really broad dissatisfaction" regarding Putin's visit to the city, which is the subject of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC). He stated, "Most Alaskans really understand that Putin and the administration of Putin are really not friends of Alaskans." According to Meade, "anything that happens on base isn't like it really happens in Alaska," and the White House has indicated that the summit will be held at the military base in north-east Anchorage. This is a disappointment for the locals, Meade said. That hasn't stopped people in Anchorage from coming up with other ideas: in a poll conducted by Alaska Landmine, 49% of people said that the two world leaders could meet "at Sarah Palin's house."

The Alaska Memo, a different newsletter from Anchorage, suggested that Trump and Putin could stay at Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn on the way to Fairbanks or hike Flattop mountain, the "quintessential Anchorage-area date night."

Landfield stated, "It's a meme-rich environment right now." The author of the Alaska Memo, Acua Buxton, stated that such satire provides Alaskans with a means of coping with the "dystopian" and unlikely scenario of Trump trading Alaska to Russia. Regarding the meeting between Trump and Putin, he stated, "Ultimately, in the big picture of things, this is about Ukraine." “[But] I think for Alaskans, it’s just sort of like a chance to roll our eyes a little bit and make some jokes.”