Sean Spicer torches corporate media over coverage of Trump-Putin summit

Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer on “The Morning Meeting” Monday criticized the media for its negative coverage of President Donald Trump’s welcome to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their Alaska summit on Friday.

ABC News and CNN seemed focused on Trump rolling out a red carpet for Putin that each leader walked down to meet after deplaning in Alaska. Spicer said on the 2WAY show that the media should not have cared about the red carpet and noted Trump also welcomed Putin with a flyover of military aircraft, including a B-2A Spirit stealth strategic bomber.

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“I was sort of blown away … this has been the problem from Trump day one. They always worry about the process. ‘Oh my god, the carpet was red.’ Who gives a crap?” Spicer said. “If you get peace, if you stop people from killing and end the destruction, what the hell does it matter? And yet all of these people have their panties in a wad about, ‘Oh my god, he rolled out the thing.’”

“Do you know what a flex it was to see that B2 fly over the top? Putin looks up. That wasn’t a tip of diplomacy,” he continued. “That was a, ‘Hey buddy, guess what we got coming up your butt if you do this again. We just used it in Iran.’”

CNN host Abby Phillip said on Friday that the red carpet was not looked upon well by Ukraine.

“I think it’s a visual that, you know, our reporters in the region say is just rubbing Ukraine the wrong way,” Phillip said. “To roll out the red carpet for a man who is wanted for war crimes against Ukraine in what might be a negotiation, is something that is not going to be received well there.”

ABC News’ David Muir and Martha Raddatz on Friday also underscored how they believed the optics would benefit Putin.

“It’s hard to believe that this is not what Vladimir Putin at least would want at this moment to be welcomed on American soil,” Muir said.

“Exactly, David,” Raddatz replied. “And with that red carpet rolled out.”

As Trump and Putin walked down the red carpet, the flyover of a single B-2 with a flight of four Lockheed F-35 Lightning joint strike fighters occurred.

The United States attacked three Iranian nuclear facilities on June 21, using as many as 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators in the operation, which involved a 37-hour flight by seven B-2s based at Whiteman Air Force Base.

Trump has consistently advocated for peace between Ukraine and Russia and vowed to end the conflict during his 2024 presidential campaign. He wrote on Truth Social Sunday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could terminate the conflict if he agreed to drop his pursuit of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership and aspirations of retaking Crimea after Russia seized the region in 2014.

The Truth Social post came ahead of Zelenskyy’s Monday visit to the White House, where the Ukrainian president is set to meet with Trump and European leaders to discuss Trump’s meeting with Vladimir Putin.

“President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,” Trump wrote. “Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!”

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