Donald Trump is facing some serious heat online after viewers noticed that US soldiers were asked to perform a task for Vladimir Putin that they found "degrading".
On 15 August 2025, as US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held their first in-person meeting in over six years, at the Elmendorf-Richardson military base in Anchorage, Alaska.
The two leaders' long-awaited summit aimed to discuss ways of potentially ending the devastating three-and-a-half-year-long war in Ukraine, though the event concluded without a concrete peace deal.
Trump and Putin greeted each other with a handshake as they stepped off their respective planes.
A red carpet was laid out for Putin, a leader accused of committing several war crimes by the International Criminal Court.
Trump was even seen smiling as Putin approached, but the optics of the event quickly sparked controversy.
Particularly, social media users voiced outrage after American soldiers were seen kneeling at the base of the stairs for Putin. Many criticized this as a "degrading" act, with one Instagram user stating: "Humiliating for the US Military," while another added: "Our country is humiliated. Holy s**t."
Despite the drama surrounding the welcome ceremony, both Trump and Putin were keen to highlight the positive aspects of their discussions.
The American president described the meeting as “extremely productive,” even though no official ceasefire or major concessions were made.
“We had an extremely productive meeting and many points were agreed to, there are just a very few that are left,” Trump said in a post-meeting news conference. “We didn’t get there, but we have a very good chance of getting there.”
Putin echoed Trump’s sentiments, praising the "friendly" nature of their meeting and emphasizing his understanding of Russia’s national interests.
The summit, while falling short of expectations, offered hope that progress could eventually be made on Ukraine, even if no immediate breakthrough occurred.
A leaked video of the summit surfaced online, drawing massive attention for an entirely different reason.
The footage, released by Russian state media, showed Putin in an unguarded moment after the official press conference.
In the clip, Putin's body language caught viewers off guard.
His legs appeared to twitch unnaturally, sparking conspiracy theories that the man in the video might not have been the Russian president at all, but rather a body double.
“His whole body language is super awkward,” one commenter speculated. Others claimed that Putin’s body double was shorter and wore insoles to appear taller.
However, body language experts quickly weighed in to dismiss these theories.
Inbaal Honigman, a professional body language analyst, noted an “identifiable mark” on the person in the video, confirming that it was indeed Putin, per the Daily Star.
She explained that this mark was linked to Putin’s background as a former KGB agent and would have made him ready to draw a firearm at any given moment.