White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt tried to spin President Donald Trump’s rocky meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin by insisting the former president has already stopped nuclear war.
At Tuesday’s White House press briefing, Leavitt tore into what she called the “left-wing media” for its negative coverage of Trump’s peace talks with Putin over the Russia-Ukraine war. She accused reporters of “actively rooting against the president.” Wearing her trademark silver cross necklace, Leavitt insisted the meeting was a success for America even though Trump left without any deal in hand.
“Russia and all countries around this world actually respect the United States again,” she said. “We’ve seen that not just lead to progress with Russia and Ukraine, but also we’ve seen it in the closing of seven global conflicts around the world as well.”
But not everyone was buying that version of events. Ben Meiselas, host of the MeidasTouch podcast, bluntly dismissed Leavitt’s claims in his Tuesday recap. “India says you didn’t do anything. You’re just making up Trump resolving fake wars, and you look so utterly pathetic and weak,” Meiselas said.
Trump himself has repeatedly boasted on social media that he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize, claiming he personally ended six or seven wars. He has pointed to conflicts like the four-day military clash between India and Pakistan in May, which Leavitt said “could have” escalated into nuclear war. But reports from outlets like the New York Times have cast serious doubt on those stories. India has flat-out denied Trump played any role at all, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying no other country pressured India to halt operations against Pakistani terror groups, according to News On Air.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is actively involved elsewhere. CNN reported that 4,000 American Naval forces have been deployed near Venezuela to help curb drug trafficking operations. Meiselas mocked Trump’s peace narrative by joking that he might declare war just to then claim credit for stopping it.
“Maybe go to war with Venezuela and then declare a peace treaty,” Meiselas said. “That could be [Trump’s] eighth piece victory. Maybe say we were gonna go to nuclear war, and you stopped another nuclear war. So ridiculous.”
The criticism highlights how shaky Trump’s peace claims are when compared to the facts on the ground. While Leavitt framed the Putin talks and supposed “global conflict closings” as proof of Trump’s strength, skeptics argue the narrative is built more on political theater than actual diplomacy. For now, Trump continues to lean into the image of dealmaker and peacemaker, even if his record tells a more complicated story.