Behind the scenes, however, former Pentagon officials told Defense One they are alarmed by reports Trump has been seeking advice not from career diplomats, but from a small circle of businessmen and political loyalists with little formal foreign policy experience. “This is a moment when every word matters, every signal matters,” said retired General Barry McCaffrey. “You don’t freelance diplomacy when nuclear powers are involved.”
Even America’s closest allies are rattled. According to Deutsche Welle, German Chancellor Annalena Baerbock has privately urged U.S. officials to seek clarity on Trump’s intentions before the summit. “The last thing Europe needs right now is a strategic miscalculation,” one EU diplomat told The Financial Times. “And the last thing Putin expects is a wild card that could tip the balance either way.”
That unpredictability is exactly what some say makes Trump dangerous in this context. Political historian Timothy Naftali told The Washington Post that leaders like Putin “thrive on chaos but also fear losing control of the narrative. If Trump upends the script before the meeting, it could throw the Kremlin off balance — or hand them an advantage.”
Public reaction in the U.S. remains sharply divided. Pro-Trump commentators on Truth Social are framing the rumored move as a masterstroke of negotiation strategy, while critics on MSNBC are warning it could alienate NATO partners and embolden Russian aggression. Meanwhile, ordinary citizens are voicing their anxiety, with one viral post reading: “I don’t care about politics — I care about my kids not living through WW3.”
I don’t care who’s in office or what their strategy is. I care about my kids not living through World War III. #WW3 #Peace— Melissa Turner (@MelisTurner) August 9, 2025
Further fueling speculation is a leaked briefing memo obtained by Axios, which outlines potential “pre-summit messaging options” ranging from calls for immediate arms control talks to proposals for redefining NATO’s forward deployment posture. The memo, marked “eyes only,” warns that certain options could “cause significant friction” with current U.S. allies if announced unilaterally.
“It’s the kind of gambit that could either make history or unravel decades of alliance-building,” said foreign policy scholar Heather Conley in an interview with CSIS. “The margin for error is zero.”
Adding to the drama, Russian state TV has been airing commentary suggesting Putin sees the meeting as a chance to “reset” relations with a potential future U.S. leader who is less committed to the NATO framework. As Al Jazeera reports, such coverage is widely seen as an attempt to portray Trump as more open to Moscow’s worldview than his political rivals.
Whether Trump ultimately follows through on the rumored move may depend on last-minute calculations about its domestic and international fallout. Multiple sources told NBC News that his team is closely watching polling data on foreign policy trustworthiness, hoping to capitalize on voter frustration with the status quo.
For now, all eyes remain on the calendar — and the narrow window before Trump and Putin sit across from each other. The stakes, as one senior diplomat put it to The Associated Press, “couldn’t be higher without someone actually pressing a button.”
