Donny’s Day Out in Anchorage:

The two leaders took no questions. Perhaps Mr Trump knew he would be asked about his pre-summit threats of “very severe consequences” if Russia did not end the conflict. Just before landing Mr Trump had told Fox News: “I won’t be happy if I walk away without some form of ceasefire.” There was no immediate sign of a three-way summit with the Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, that Mr Trump had previously floated.

…

Ever the showman, Mr Trump took care to impress Mr Putin. Their planes parked close to each other; the two men stepped out more or less simultaneously, shook hands warmly and walked towards a rostrum as a B-2 bomber, escorted by four F-35 fighters, passed overhead. Four F-22s on the ground formed a guard of honour. Mr Trump may have wanted to demonstrate America’s military power. Instead, he displayed its diplomatic weakness—having repeatedly set deadlines for Russia to cease fire, then done nothing when they were ignored.

America’s current diplomatic weakness is Donald Trump’s weakness, especially the total weakness of his brain.

In his first term Mr Trump often liked to speak to Mr Putin alone, without officials or note-takers. It was a relief, therefore, when it was announced earlier in the day that the planned one-on-one meeting in Anchorage had been expanded to include two other senior officials on each side. But as they stepped off the podium, Mr Trump invited Mr Putin to get into his limousine, known as The Beast—securing the private chat after all.

See? Weak brain.

The honours for Mr Putin were in sharp contrast to the public humiliation that Mr Trump and his advisers inflicted on Mr Zelensky during his first visit to the White House earlier this year.

To put it mildly.