Trump confuses Alaska with Russia as he frets about DC

US president Donald Trump appeared to mix up Russia with Alaska ahead of his meeting with Vladimir Putin, during a White House press conference about crime in Washington, DC and his plans to deploy the National Guard and put the city's police under his control.

- ERIC GARCIA

Mr Trump delivered the news from the podium in the press briefing room - joined by attorney general Pam Bondi, defence secretary Pete Hegseth, and newly confirmed DC US attorney Jeanine Pirro - where he decried the level of crime in the US capital.

"This is a tragic emergency, and it's embarrassing for me to be up here," Mr Trump told reporters. "You know, I'm going to see Putin. I'm going to Russia on Friday. I don't like being up here, talking about how unsafe and how dirty and disgusting this once-beautiful capital [is]."

Mr Trump is not going to Russia, but rather to Alaska to meet with Putin. He is set to meet with the Russian president to discuss bringing an end to the war in Ukraine that Moscow initiated when it invaded the sovereign nation in February 2022.

"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," Mr Trump posted last week on Truth Social.