'This Week' Transcript 8-17-25: Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former Biden National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan & Sen. Chris Van Hollen

A rush transcript of "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" airing on Sunday, August 17, 2025 on ABC News is below. This copy may not be in its final form, may be updated and may contain minor transcription errors. For previous show transcripts, visit the "This Week" transcript archive.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARTHA RADDATZ, ABC “THIS WEEK” CO-ANCHOR: The much-anticipated summit between President Trump and Vladimir Putin ends without a deal. What will that mean for the war in Ukraine?

THIS WEEK starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's no deal until there's a deal.

RADDATZ: President Trump rolls out the red carpet for Vladimir Putin in Alaska, but their summit fails to produce a ceasefire.

TRUMP: Many points were agreed to. And there are just a very few that are left.

RADDATZ: Did Putin offer any concessions, and is peace in you Ukraine any closer?

There are so many questions left, and so much to learn for the rest of the world and especially there in Ukraine.

We're just back from Anchorage. And this morning, Ian Pannell is live in Ukraine. Secretary of State Marco Rubio joins us. Plus reaction from former Biden National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.

Capital takeover.

TRUMP: I'm announcing a historic action to rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor, and worse.

RADDATZ: President Trump seizes control of D.C.'s police and deploys the National Guard to Washington. Mola Lenghi is live on the scene, plus Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen on his push to end Trump's takeover.

And --

STEVE OSUNSANMI, SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: How has business been since January?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sucked.

OSUNSANMI: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It sucks. Yes, this is my worst year ever.

RADDATZ: Steve Osunsanmi reports on Trump’s trade war fallout at the U.S./Canada border.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: From ABC News it's THIS WEEK. Here now, Martha Raddatz.

RADDATZ: Good morning and welcome to THIS WEEK.

We are just back from Alaska where the high-stakes summit between President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin has produced more questions than answers. On the ground for less than six hours, Putin appears to have gotten everything he wanted -- a friendly welcome on the world stage, while conceding little on actually ending the war in Ukraine. No ceasefire was reached, and President Trump is now saying one isn't necessary while negotiations for a broader peace deal continue.

And those severe consequences for Russia that he had threatened if no ceasefire was reached? No sign of that either.

Ukraine's President Zelenskyy will now head to Washington for a meeting Monday with President Trump saying the ball is in his court to make concessions to end the war. A war that Trump once said he could end in 24 hours, but that he acknowledged this week is now his greatest challenge.

I'll speak with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a moment. But, first, we were on the ground in Alaska as the diplomatic drama played out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RADDATZ (voice over): It was a striking scene. Russia's Vladimir Putin, responsible for invading Ukraine and the deaths of tens of thousands of Ukrainians, given a red carpet arrival, a warm handshake and a ride in the presidential limousine to a closed door three-hour meeting with the whole world watching and waiting.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe we had a very productive meeting. There were many, many points that we agreed on. Most of them, I would say. A couple of big ones that we haven't quite gotten there, but we've made some headway. So, there's no deal until there's a deal.

RADDATZ (voice over): Trump and Putin standing side by side, the words “pursuing peace” plastered behind them.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I would like to hope that the agreement that we've reached together will help us bring closer that goal and will pave the path towards peace in Ukraine.

TRUMP: We really made some great progress today.

RADDATZ (voice over): But the purpose of this meeting was getting a ceasefire, an end to the fighting. But despite the presummit rhetoric --

TRUMP: I want to see a ceasefire rapidly. I don't know if it's going to be today, but I’m not going to be happy if it's not today.

RADDATZ (voice over): That did not happen.

TRUMP: Many points were agreed to. There are just a very few that are left. Some are not that significant. One is probably the most significant. But we have a very good chance of getting there. We didn't get there.

RADDATZ (voice over): Trump had threatened severe consequences for Russia if a ceasefire wasn't reached.

TRUMP: There will be consequences.

REPORTER: Sanctions? Tariffs?

TRUMP: There will be -- I don't have to say. There will be very severe consequences, yes.

RADDATZ: But now that seems to be off the table.

TRUMP: Because of what happened today, I think I don't have to think about that.

RADDATZ: Trump gave more details when he was back in Washington, which was a blow to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has insisted a ceasefire must be reached before leaders can negotiate an end to the war.

Trump writing on Truth Social, “it was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a peace agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere ceasefire agreement, which oftentimes do not hold up.” That reversal, a significant triumph for Putin.

TRUMP: Yes, I've always had a fantastic relationship with President Putin, with Vladimir.

RADDATZ: Their friendly relationship is one from which President Trump has been criticized for, but it didn't stop the Russian president from showering his counterpart with praise.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I would like to thank President Trump for our joint work, for the well-wishing and trustworthy tone of our conversation.

RADDATZ (voice over): Putin backed up Trump's central claim about the war's beginning.

PUTIN (through translator): Today, when President Trump saying that if he was the president back then there would be no war, and I’m quite sure that it would indeed be so. I can confirm that.

TRUMP: And I was very happy to hear him say if I was president that war would have never happened.

RADDATZ (voice over): And the president told Fox News that Putin agreed with his false claim that he won the 2020 election.

TRUMP: He said, your election was rigged because you have mail-in voting.

RADDATZ (voice over): Trump says he believes Putin wants to end the war.

TRUMP: We spoke very sincerely. I think he wants to see it done.

RADDATZ (voice over): But whether Putin is sincere about peace remains to be seen. A lot can change in very little time. This was President Trump just six weeks ago.

TRUMP: We get a lot of (EXPLETIVE DELETED) thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth. He's very nice all the time, but it turns out to be meaningless.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RADDATZ (on camera): And for the latest from Ukraine, let's go to our chief foreign correspondent Ian Pannell in Kyiv.

And, Ian, very high stakes for President Zelenskyy as he heads to Washington for tomorrow's meeting. But we're hearing now that he won't be meeting President Trump alone.

IAN PANNELL, CHIEF FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Martha. That is definitely the hope that it's going to temper what happens. The secretary general of NATO, president of the European Union, leaders of France, Germany, Finland and Italy all planning to support Zelenskyy.

And why does this matter? Well, put simply, Ukrainian lives are on the line here. While President Trump rolled out that red carpet for Vladimir Putin, Putin’s army was bombing Ukraine. There were more attacks overnight. And the Russian Ministry of Defense releasing this video showing their troops attacking Ukrainian towns on the frontline.

And, frankly, Ukrainians are shocked at what they witnessed in Alaska. One newspaper here calling the summit, sickening, shameful, and, in the end, useless. Vladimir Putin has successfully flipped the script. Instead of a ceasefire, severe consequences and a tri-lateral meeting, remember all things President Trump said would happen, the pressure is now on Ukraine and Zelenskyy to make concessions.

A reminder that Russia illegally occupies one-fifth of Ukraine. And our source revealing Putin is asking for all of Donetsk in exchange for halting offenses and attacks elsewhere. I mean it's an impossible sell to Ukrainians. The sacrifices have been too great for Ukraine to simply roll over.

And one last point. In 1994, the United States, Russia and the U.K. pledged to respect Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and existing borders, even offering security assurances. That was broken in 2014 when Russia occupied Crimea in parts of the east, and it was broken again three and a half years ago. The assurances proved worthless then. And no one here is going to accept either the permanent loss of their land nor anything less than real security guarantees from the U.S. and others that really do mean that Russia isn't going to invade for a third time.

Martha.

And I'm joined now by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Good morning, Mr. Secretary. Thanks for joining us this morning.

President Trump has touted this summit as a huge success. But the president, going into that, said he wanted a ceasefire, he wanted the killing stopped and he -- there would be consequences. Let’s -- let’s take another listen to what he said just before that summit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Will Russia face any consequences if Vladimir Putin does not agree to stop the war after your meeting on Friday?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, they will. Yes. Yes, there will be consequences.

REPORTER: What will those consequences be? Sanctions? Tariffs?

TRUMP: There will be -- I don’t have to say. There will be very severe consequences.

I won’t be happy if I walk away without some form of a ceasefire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RADDATZ: So, Mr. Secretary, the fighting hasn’t stopped. The killing hasn’t stopped. And there is no ceasefire. What changed President Trump’s mind?

SECRETARY OF STATE MARCO RUBIO: Well, I don’t think his mind has changed at all. I think, ultimately, if this whole effort doesn’t work out then, yes, there is going to have to be additional consequences to Russia, but we’re trying to avoid that by reaching a peace agreement. And that’s not going to be easy. It's going to take a lot of work.

I think there were things that were identified in those talks that we just had a couple of days ago that made some progress in some directions.

Now, obviously, in order for us to get a peace agreement, Ukraine has to be a part of it. They have to be included. They have to be involved. That's why the president called him on the phone immediately after we got on the airplane within an hour. He talked to him for long periods of time.

That's why President Zelenskyy will be traveling to Washington tomorrow along with several European leaders as well to continue to work on this. We made progress in the sense that we identified potential areas of agreement, but there remains some big areas of disagreement.

So, we're still a long ways off. I mean, we're not at the precipice of a peace agreement. We're not at the edge of one, but I do think progress was made in -- towards one. And -- but again --

MARTHA RADDATZ, ABC “THIS WEEK” CO-ANCHOR: But, Secretary Rubio, we don't know what any of that progress is. And the president went into that meeting said --

RUBIO: Yeah, you’re not going to.

RADDATZ: Okay. The president went into that meeting saying he wanted a ceasefire and there would be consequences if that -- if they didn't agree on a ceasefire in that meeting and they didn't agree to a ceasefire. So where are the consequences?

RUBIO: Well, I don’t -- that's -- that's not the aim of this. Look, first of all, you're not going to reach a ceasefire or peace agreement --

RADDATZ: The president said that was the aim.

RUBIO: Yeah. But you're not going to reach a ceasefire or peace agreement in a meeting in which only one side is represented. That's why it's important to bring both leaders together. And that's the goal here.

The president has said what he'd like to see at some point is we make enough progress so both leaders, Zelenskyy and Putin, can meet somewhere and finalize this.

The only way to finalize a peace agreement is you have to have both sides agree to it and both sides of it involved. How many times have we heard from the Ukrainians and from others, there can -- there's nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine? Well, Ukraine wasn't at the meeting, but this was a very important meeting.

Now, ultimately, if there isn't a peace agreement, if there isn't an end of this war, the president's been clear there are going to be consequences, but we're trying to avoid that. And the way we're trying to avoid those consequences is with an even better consequence, which is peace, the end of hostilities. That's the aim. That's the goal here.

And the president -- he deserves a lot of credit. This is not our -- look, when he says this, it's true. The United States is not at war. This is not our war.

Ultimately, what daily life in America looks like will not be materially altered one way or another about what happens in Ukraine. We have dedicated time and energy to this because this president has made it a priority of his administration to promote peace and end or prevent wars. He's made that a priority.

And I think he deserves a lot of credit for the amount of time and energy that we have invested in something like this. And he's the only one in the world that could do it. Okay? None of these other leaders in Europe could get Putin to a meeting to talk seriously about any of this.

So, this is going to be difficult. It's been going on for three and a half years. You have two very entrenched sides, and we're going to have to continue to work and chip away at it.

I think we made some real progress. You talked about not knowing what was discussed. These peace deals, these peace agreements and negotiations, they don't work when they're conducted in the media, either through leaks or through lies.

And usually, they're both the same thing, lying leaks. Okay? They don't work if you do it that way.

RADDATZ: Mr. Secretary --

RUBIO: And they don't work if you go out and say aggressive and abrasive things about one side or the other, because then they just walk away.

RADDATZ: Can you name any concessions that Vladimir Putin made during this meeting? Has he -- has any concession --

RUBIO: I wouldn’t name them on your program.

RADDATZ: Have any concessions been asked?

RUBIO: I wouldn’t name them on your program. Why would I do that?

RADDATZ: Where is the pressure?

RUBIO: Well, of course, because he can’t have a peace agreement -- no, you can’t have a peace agreement unless both sides give and get. You can’t have a peace agreement unless both sides make concessions. That’s a fact. That’s true in virtually any negotiation.

If not, it’s just called surrender. And neither side is going to surrender. So, both sides are going to have to make concessions.

So, of course, concessions were asked. But what utility would there be of me going on a program and tell you, we’ve wagged our finger at Putin and told him, you must do this and you must do that. It’s only going to make -- it’s only going to make it harder and less likely that they’re going to agree to these things.

So, these negotiations, as much as everyone would love it to be a live, pay-per-view event, these discussions only work best when they are conducted privately in serious negotiation in which people who have to go back and respond to constituencies, because even totalitarian governments have constituencies they have to respond to, people have to go back and defend these agreements that they make. And so -- and figure out a way to explain them to people.

So, we need to create space for concessions to be made. But, of course, concessions were asked.

RADDATZ: Do -- do you -- does the president favor giving up territory that Ukraine now controls, specifically in the Donetsk region? Sources are telling us that’s what was asked.

RUBIO: Well -- well, first of all, I mean, Putin has given repeated speeches now for two and a half years. There’s one they always cite, which talks about taking most of Ukraine and his view of history and how -- and so-forth and so on.

The second thing the president -- so, we know what their side is demanding and we obviously know the Ukrainians are not in agreement with any of that.

The second point I would make is, the president has said repeatedly, which it comes to territories and territorial claims, that’s ultimately something that Ukraine will have to decide. It’s their territory. It’s their country. Ultimately, what they’re willing to live with is what they’ll have to decide on.

Maybe the answer is, they’re not willing to live with any of this. We don’t know. But that’s what we need to explore.

In the meantime, the one thing we do know that Ukraine has said repeatedly and publicly have talked about is security guarantees. They need to be able to enter into security guarantees -- that ensure that this is never going to happen again, that they’re not going to get reinvaded in two and a half or three years or four years or whenever it may be. They don’t want to be back here again. They want to be able to go on to rebuild their country and live their lives. That’s a very reasonable request. That’s something we’re working on. And that’s something the Russian side has to understand, obviously, is that as a sovereign county, Ukraine has a right, like every sovereign country, to enter into security alliances and agreements with other countries.

So, these are some of the things that we’ll be discussing.

RADDATZ: Critics of President Trump will say the pomp and circumstances -- the pomp and circumstance, the red carpet, the warm handshake, that President Trump simply lost that, that Putin gained there, just by being on the world stage and walking down a red carpet with the president. Your reaction to that?

RUBIO: Well, I mean critics of President Trump are always going to find something to criticize. I don’t even pay attention to it anymore.

But I will tell you this, Putin is already on the world stage. He’s already on the world stage. The guy is conducting a full-scale war in Ukraine. He’s already on the world stage. He has the world’s largest tactical nuclear arsenal in the world, and the second largest strategic nuclear arsenal in the world. He’s already on the world stage.

When I hear people say that, oh, it elevates him, well, we -- all we do is talk about Putin all the time. All the media has done is talk about Putin all the time for the last four or five years. That doesn’t mean he’s right about the war. That doesn’t mean he’s justified about the war. Put all that aside. It means you’re not going to have a peace agreement without -- between Russia and Ukraine. You’re not going to end a war between Russia and Ukraine without dealing with Putin. That’s not -- that’s just common sense. I shouldn’t even have to say it.

So, people can say whatever they want. Ultimately, at the end of the day, we have to get the Russian side to agree to things that they don’t want to agree to if we’re going to have peace. If not, there will just be a war, they’ll keep killing each other and life will go on in America and in the rest of the world, but not for Ukraine.

So, the president has invested a lot of time in trying to bring an end to this war. He deserves credit for doing that. He gets criticism for doing that. He could just let this war go on. The president could have just said, this is Biden’s war. It started under him. We’ll do what we can for Ukraine, but we’re going to focus on other things. He could have easily said that. But he’s the only leader in the world that could get Putin to a meeting to talk about serious things.

RADDATZ: But let -- just a final point here. Just -- just a final point here.

So, at this point, even though he demanded sanctions, no sanctions, no ceasefire and no deadlines?

RUBIO: Well, but, ultimately, first of all about deadlines. The deadline is as soon as possible. We want this war to end as soon as possible. I mean that’s why we’re working on it.

In terms of sanctions, look, at the end of the day, if we can’t reach a peace agreement here, and this war continues, and so forth, then I anticipate you’ll see the president take further action. He’s already made that clear.

The problem is this. Let’s -- let’s use our heads here. The problem is this. The minute you levy additional sanctions, strong, additional sanctions, the talking stops. Talking stops. And at that point, the war just continues. You’ve probably just added six, eight, nine, 12 more months to the war, if not longer. More people dead. More people killed. More people maimed. More families destroyed, OK, that’s what happens if you do that.

Now, we may end up being at a point where we have to do that, where there is no other recourse, and that’s the end.

By the way, there already are sanctions on Russia. The president hasn’t lifted any sanctions on Russia. They’re already facing sanctions, severe sanctions, and they’re facing them from the Europeans as well. So, we may very well reach a point where everyone concludes, no peace is going to happen here. We’re going to have to do more sanctions. But when you do that, you are basically walking way from any prospect of a negotiated settlement here, which is what everyone is asking us to do. Everyone. Including the Ukrainians and all the countries of Europe are begging the United States to be engaged, engage Putin and try to get him to agree to a peace agreement. They’re all asking us to do that. They all are. And the minute you levy new sanctions, those talks probably stop for the foreseeable future. And that means the war continues for the foreseeable future.

I hope that doesn’t happen. We may very well wind up there. But we’re going to try to do everything to prevent it because we want to reach a peace agreement.

RADDATZ: OK, thanks very much, Secretary Rubio. We hope you -- that happens.

So, let’s bring in Jake Sullivan, who served as national security adviser in the Biden administration.

Good morning, Mr. Sullivan.

I want your reaction first to what Marco Rubio just said.

FORMER BIDEN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER JAKE SULLIVAN: Well, first I'll start by saying that diplomacy is hard. When President Trump said he was going to end the war in a day, obviously that was not a credible statement. And it’s been many months and it hasn’t ended. So, my sympathy goes out to Secretary Rubio, National Security Adviser Rubio, as he tries to work on this. But basically the bottom line is, the way to judge, in a very straightforward manner, whether a summit was a success or a failure, is, did you achieve your stated goals? And President Trump’s stated goals were very simple, get an immediate ceasefire, and in the absence of a ceasefire, impose what he called severe consequences.

Well, the summit has come and gone. There is no ceasefire. There are no consequences. Meanwhile, President Putin has a simple goal. Keep the war going without facing further economic pressure from the United States. And he has achieved both of those goals on an open-ended basis.

As soon as possible isn't actually a deadline. The deadline President Trump gave was this past week where he said if there's not an end to the fighting, I will impose sanctions. Instead, President Putin seems to have bought time and space to continue his aggression through the way that he achieved his goals at this summit in Alaska.

RADDATZ: And specifically some of the things that Marco Rubio said, look, we're still -- we want peace negotiations. Zelenskyy wasn't there. I mean, Zelenskyy has basically said in the past he would accept a ceasefire, correct?

SULLIVAN: President Zelenskyy has very emphatically said a ceasefire should be the first step, then negotiations, then an end to the war. And, in fact, he did that at the request of President Trump who called for President Zelenskyy to support a ceasefire, which President Zelenskyy then did. So this was all set up in a very straightforward way.

Try to bring Putin to the table to agree to a pause in the fighting so that you can have real negotiations, not give Putin open-ended license to continue bombing Ukraine even as recently as last night, while dragging out these negotiations.

Now time will tell. Let's see what happens here in the coming days. But one thing that I think Secretary Rubio has backwards is the idea that additional pressure would hurt diplomacy. From my perspective part of the reason that Putin came to Alaska is because he's worried about the possibility of pressure.

And if President Trump were prepared to escalate sanctions, squeeze Putin harder, I believe it would give him leverage to bring this war to an end more rapidly, and I hope that when President Zelenskyy and the European leaders are in Washington tomorrow they will discuss with President Trump the need for that additional economic pressure because that is what is going to get President Putin's attention especially with his economy in as weak a state as it is in today.

RADDATZ: One of the things he says is that Putin was already on the world stage. You chose never -- President Biden, rather -- you chose never to meet with Vladimir Putin. Why not?

SULLIVAN: Look, we had many different contacts with the Russians over two and a half years, and we concluded, based on those contacts, that Russia was not in a position to come to the table in a serious way to end this war. And so we didn't want to set up a summit where we were literally rolling out the red carpet for Putin in America to have him come and walk away and continue the war without any clear and convincing outcome of the summit.

So we didn't think that was possible. And having just watched Alaska, I think our judgment on that was correct. Now, does that mean there shouldn't be diplomacy with Russia? Of course not. There should be. Does it mean that a summit should never take place? A summit would be fine but it's got to be properly prepared to produce an outcome that the American president can articulate in advance and produce in the aftermath. The outcome that this American president articulated, a ceasefire or consequences, he did not produce. And that is why I think we find ourselves in a difficult situation today.

But, Martha, this isn't over. There will be a meeting with Zelenskyy and European leaders and then we'll see what happens after that. My hope is that President Trump will see in hindsight that President Putin is just trying to take us all for a ride, to keep this war going, keep attacking Ukraine without facing additional pressure. And we've got to cut him off at the pass.

RADDATZ: We have just about a minute left here, but what kind of position is the Ukrainian president in as he goes into this meeting, a position strength? A position of having no idea what's going to go on? We saw the last meeting.

SULLIVAN: Look, there's a lot of commentary in the press about how Ukraine is not in a strong position, but I think that there are two factors that you have to take into account. The first is that Russia right now is trying to achieve diplomatically what they cannot achieve militarily. They are not able to take the rest of the Donbas and haven't been able to do so in the -- in the last three-plus years.

Second, as I mentioned before, the Russian economy is in a very fragile state. So now is the moment for President Zelenskyy to look President Trump in the eye, get the support of the European leaders, and say, let's do two things. First, let's increase our support for Ukraine and for the brave fighters on the battlefield, and second, let's increase the pressure on Russia. If we take those two steps, we will create a circumstance where Ukraine has the leverage to get a good, durable, just outcome to this war, one that would be accompanied by the kinds of security guarantees --

RADDATZ: We're going to have to stop you there.

SULLIVAN: -- that Secretary Rubio described.

RADDATZ: We're going to have to stop you there but thanks so much for joining us.

Coming up, what does the former CIA station chief in Moscow think of what Putin accomplished at the summit? He joins our panel when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RADDATZ: And for more on the fallout from the Alaska summit, I'm joined now by NPR’s “All Things Considered” co-host Mary Louise Kelly, just back from Alaska, and Robert Dannenberg, who served as Central Eurasia division chief for the CIA, including time based in Moscow, and is the author of the new book, “A Spy Walked Into a Bar”.

You were that spy. You spent -- you were station chief in Moscow once. That's the head spy in Moscow. You knew Vladimir Putin at the time. He, of course, has that intelligence background as well.

How did that play into what you saw play out in Alaska?

ROBERT DANNENBERG, FORMER CIA CHIEF OF CENTRAL EURASIA DIVISION: Yeah, thank you.

People talk a lot about Vladimir Putin's background as a KGB officer. What does that mean? It means he's a detail guy. It means that he's a guy who understands intelligence and its importance for him as a head of state.

He will have spent hours preparing for his meetings with Donald Trump. I think this was the seventh one that they've had, and he will have carefully factored in what his intelligence services tell him about Donald Trump and what's going on in the United States in his preparation for his meeting with the president on Friday.

RADDATZ: So how did you see that play out really?

DANNENBERG: Well, you -- KGB training like CIA training is a lot about spotting, assessing, developing and recruiting people to be intelligent sources. And in the case of Putin and Trump, it's about spotting, assessing, developing, and manipulating, which is also a key part of the intelligence equation.

And what we saw on Friday, what we've seen in previous meetings, including Helsinki, was Putin showing that he had carefully prepared his remarks that he was going to make to Donald Trump and they were designed to ingratiate himself with the president of the United States and put him in a position to manipulate the president's point of view.

RADDATZ: Do you think he got what he wanted?

DANNENBERG: I think, you know, didn't Donald Trump say he would know whether the meeting was going to be a success or a failure in the first two minutes? I would argue to you that Putin saw the same thing. When Putin got into the car with Trump and he turned and looked at the cameras and smirked, that was his two-minute, “I've got this thing” moment.

RADDATZ: Mary Louise, the president called it a great and successful day. Did you see it that way?

MARY LOUISE KELLY, CO-HOST OF NPR’S “ALL THINGS CONSIDERED”: You know, Donald Trump, Martha, loves to take questions. And so, when we saw the meetings end early, when we saw Vladimir Putin getting to speak first and at greater length, when we saw Trump's choosing to take no questions whatsoever, not even trying to claim a win, I think what was left unsaid was much more striking than what was said.

And I think that's absolutely right, the point you raise about -- that they were going to know within two minutes how this was going to go. And we saw it play out.

RADDATZ: How do you think this plays politically? We talked a lot about internationally and how it’s played, in Ukraine certainly not well. But politically, his base, do they care?

LOUISE KELLY: Well, Donald Trump said this was a ten out of ten meeting. He said it went great. That was his readout. He also said the same about the Helsinki Summit in 2018, which was widely seen, even among Republicans and the base, as an embarrassment. It was one of those things where the visuals were great. It was great television. The red carpet, the fighter jets buzzing in the air.

I was thinking about it afterward as we -- as we walked out of the room where they did not take questions and thought, if this was a movie, the visuals were great. The sound effects were great. The crew, the cast was all -- they were all there.

(CROSSTALK)

RADDATZ: He's very good at that.

LOUISE KELLY: Very good at that. However, it was as though they'd forgotten to bring the screenwriter. There was no script. And so, at the end of the day, there are limits to what can be achieved if you're ad-libbing and you haven't prepped, the Russians had done the prep.

RADDATZ: So -- so, where does this go from here? What -- what do you see as Putin's next move? What is -- what is the former spy planning now?

ROBERT DANNENBERG, FORMER CIA CHIEF OF CENTRAL EURASIA DIVISION: Well, this is clearly part of a process. It began in the run up to the Friday deadline a week ago and continued with meeting on Friday in Anchorage. And it will continue tomorrow in the meeting with President Zelenskyy in the White House. Vladimir Putin's objectives with regard to the Ukraine are clear. He's written them down in his famous essay from June of 2021, I believe, about the unity of the Russian and the Ukrainian peoples, in which he claims that historically, the Ukraine is really part of Russia.

Putin's never moved an inch from that belief and his objective in this war and his overall objective as he secures his legacy as the 21st century Peter the great of -- Vladimir the great of Russia is to complete the job and reintegrate all of the Ukraine into the territory of the Russian Federation where he believes it properly should be. So, tomorrow will certainly be another key step in this process. And I believe that you will see President Trump again put pressure on Zelenskyy and suggest to him that it's Ukraine's responsibility to bring about the peace.

RADDATZ: Tomorrow's meeting will be different. He'll have the Europeans there as well. Mary Louise?

LOUISE KELLY: Yes, he will. He will. I mean this, both the Ukrainians and their European allies and America's European allies have always said no talks about Ukraine, no decisions on Ukraine without Ukraine. The Ukrainians wanted to be in Alaska. They were -- they were not because Zelenskyy wasn't invited. So now, Donald Trump is flipping this forward saying, this is up to Zelenskyy. He's the one who needs to make the next move. We all watched what happened last time President Zelenskyy was in the Oval Office. It did not go well for Zelenskyy.

One wonders, if anything has changed to make this easier because, as you point out, the fundamental gap remains. The Ukrainians maintain that they are a free, independent, sovereign nation moving toward democracy in the West, and they want to end this war. And they're open to an immediate ceasefire to figure out what that can look like. Putin says, yet (ph), he says Ukraine is Russia. It always has been. It always will be. That's a huge gap to bridge. And so, tomorrow will be interesting, but it's incremental.

RADDATZ: OK, thanks to you both. I know you never imagined you'd end up on TV as a CIA spy.

(LAUGH)

RADDATZ: So thanks very much. Up next, the Trump Administration takes over Washington with National Guard troops on the street. Is it about crime and safety, or simply a show of force? That conversation, when we come back.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That’s a good thing. Already they're saying, he's a dictator. The place is going to hell and we’ve got to stop it. So instead of saying he's a dictator, they should say, we're going to join him in making Washington safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RADDATZ: President Trump dismissing criticism of his takeover of D.C. police and putting National Guard troops on the streets of the nation's capital. Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen responds when we come back.

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RADDATZ: President Trump is locked in a legal battle with city officials in Washington, D.C., after announcing a federal takeover of the D.C. police and sending National Guard troops into the nation's capital that he claims is spiraling out of control.

ABC's Mola Lenghi has the latest.

MOLA LENGHI, CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This morning, National Guard troops on the streets of the nation's capital, and D.C. police working with a new directive from the president.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now they are allowed to do whatever the hell they want.

LENGHI (voice over): On Monday, President Trump announcing a federal takeover of the D.C. Police Department, claiming officers have had their hands tied, unable to fight back against crime and lawlessness.

TRUMP: They fight back until you knock the hell out of them because it's the only language they understand.

LENGHI: The president declaring an emergency, saying crime in D.C. is spiraling out of control, even though the district's official figures showing violent crime recently hitting a 30-year low, down 26 percent since last year, numbers the president has baselessly called phony.

MERYL CHERTOFF, GEORGETOWN PROJECT ON STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT POLICY AND LAW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: In general, emergencies are declared with respect to national disasters, terrorist events, wartime activity. We have none of those situations here.

LENGHI: And despite that, President Trump deploying 800 National Guard troops to some of the city's most prominent locations, including the National Mall and Union Station for what Army officials characterize as a role of support.

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: If you take an action or a shot at them, there will be a consequence. We're not going to have National Guard sitting there like this, seeing a crime committed, not do something about it.

LENGHI: Initially unarmed, “The Wall Street Journal” now reporting those citizen soldiers are preparing to carry weapons in D.C. in the coming days.

Asked about the report, a White House official telling ABC News, “they may be armed, consistent with their mission and training.”

The White House saying since the operation began, dozens of arrests have been made. The majority, undocumented immigrants.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser calling it an authoritarian push before dialing that back.

MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER (D), WASHINGTON, D.C.: What we want to do is make sure that this federal surge is useful to us.

LENGHI: Many residents we spoke to saying while crime has at times been a concern, a military presence feels unnecessary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I understand wanting to get some help, to help with the crime, but I think the National Guard just adds an extra layer to people's anxiety and angst.

LENGHI: And despite the president's claims, legal experts say it's clear that law enforcement does not have the right to assault anyone.

MONICA HOPKINS, WASHINGTON, D.C. ACLU EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: You know, we still have a Constitution, and you know, police don't have a right to do just anything under the Constitution. You have certain rights when encountering police.

LENGHI: President Trump's efforts now spilling into a legal battle with city officials.

BRIAN SCHWALB (D), WASHINGTON D.C. ATTORNEY GENERAL: The hostile takeover of our police force is not going to happen.

LENGHI: As Attorney General Pam Bondi issued an order that would sideline D.C.'s police chief, replacing her with the head of the Drug Enforcement Agency.

PAM BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERAL: That’s why at my directive, we have made Terry Cole now the commissioner over the police.

LENGHI: But just hours later, a district judge raising concerns about the plan, telling White House attorneys that the Department of Justice clearly cannot direct the MPD to do anything.

Attorneys for the city and the DOJ then reaching an agreement to restore control of the police department to Police Chief Pamela Smith.

SCHWALB: I'm very gratified that the judge today recognized that that is flagrantly illegal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LENGHI (on camera): Well, on Saturday, governors from several states, including South Carolina, West Virginia, and Ohio, agreeing to send National Guard troops from their states, bringing the total number of soldiers deployed here to the nation's capital to more than 1,500.

Now, the president has indicated that he wants to keep those troops as well as his authority over D.C. police for more than the 30 days currently allotted to him, setting up the potential for a drawn-out legal battle, Martha.

MARTHA RADDATZ, ABC “THIS WEEK” CO-ANCHOR: And our thanks to Mola.

I'm joined now by Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who is working with D.C. officials to challenge the Trump administration’s takeover.

Good morning to you, Senator.

Let’s go back to the additional National Guard that is being sent in here, 750 from Republican-led states. What’s your reaction to that?

SEN. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, (D) MARYLAND: Well, Martha, all of this is a total abuse of power. It’s a manufactured emergency. If you wanted to see an emergency in Washington, D.C., that was back on January 6, 2021, which President Trump did not thing to deploy the National Guard on time.

Here, obviously, D.C. can do more to reduce violent crime, as we can across the country. But as you pointed out, crime in D.C. is at a 30-year low and a downward trajectory. So, this is all an opportunity for Donald Trump to play dictator in Washington, D.C.

Instead, he should be releasing, along with the House Republicans, the $1 billion -- $1 billion in money that belongs to the people of D.C. that they’re holding that D.C. could use to hire more police.

RADDATZ: Well -- well, let’s talk about that. You call it -- you call it this power grab that he’s -- a move of a dictator. But the way the law is written, it appears he has the legal authority. And Mayor Bowser conceded that.

So, what is the abuse of power here?

VAN HOLLEN: The abuse of power is claiming that this is an emergency. And everybody who is watching what happens knows that this is not an emergency in Washington, D.C.

So, he is using this technical provision in the law, but I would argue clearly, he’s abusing it to manufacture this -- this emergency. And now he has 30 days in which he can act. At that time, of course, in order to continue to act, he needs Congress to extend it.

RADDATZ: The mayor suggested this week that the surge of -- of federal police could be useful in fighting crime. And there is a crime problem in D.C. We all live here. I want you to -- I want to play you something that D.C.’s Police Chief, Pamela Smith said this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA SMITH, WASHINGTON, D.C. POLICE CHIEF: You’re talking about 500 additional personnel in the District of Columbia. And as you know, we’ve talked about the fact that we’re down in numbers with our police officers. And so, this enhanced presence clearly is going to impact us in a positive way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RADDATZ: So, do you see anything positive about this?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, I understand the position the police chief is in. The best way to help the police chief in Washington, D.C., is for President Trump and Republicans in Congress to give them the $1 billion in money that belongs to them, so that they can hire those police rather than bringing in these federal agents.

I would also say, Martha, I would think that taxpayers all over the country, federal taxpayers, have to ask themselves how it is that we are using resources, national resources, the FBI, the DEA, folks who are supposed to be out and about protecting the country from violent criminals, and now they’re spending their time taking down tents of homeless people in the District of Columbia. I would think people all over the country would worry about that diversion of resources.

RADDATZ: And now reportedly, the National Guard could be armed.

VAN HOLLEN: Well, that’s very troubling because, as you know, the National Guard, first of all, is not supposed to engage in any local law enforcement activity. We have the Posse Comitatus Act that prohibits them from engaging in local law enforcement. And so, I'm not sure what it is that they need to do where they need to be armed.

RADDATZ: The -- the president says he’s going to maintain control of D.C. police past this 30-day limit, no matter what Congress does. So, then what do you do?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, that, clearly, is a violation of the statute. And so, we’ll end up right back in court. Of course, the president also thought he had the ability to essentially take out the police chief and have his people come in and run the police department. A federal judge already said that that was not authorized. And in the same way, his ability to extend it beyond 30 days is not authorized. And so, they’re going to have to pass this statute in the -- this extension in the Congress. And I don’t think that that’s going to pass.

RADDATZ: I’d like to move to the summit, if you will. You’re on the Foreign Relations Committee. You watched that summit, I'm sure. What -- what is your reaction to what happened?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, Martha, there’s no sugar coating this. Donald Trump, once again, got played by Vladimir Putin. Vladimir Putin got the red carpet treatment on American soil. But we got no ceasefire, no imminent meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy. All the threat and sanctions that, you know, Donald Trump talked about apparently have been set aside. Donald Trump got flattered by Vladimir Putin. But when it comes to Ukraine and our European allies, this was a set-back.

I do believe that Congress now, the Senate in particular, should move forward on bipartisan legislation that has over 60 Senators as co-sponsors that would impose sanctions on Russia and Vladimir Putin.

RADDATZ: And we’ll see whether that happens. But just very quickly, aren’t personal relations important?

VAN HOLLEN: Personal relations are important. And I have no objection to people talking. But you want to have a clear objective in mind. Clearly, Vladimir Putin had a clear objective in mind. And he came to Alaska and gave up nothing, whereas, you know, Donald Trump said he had hoped to do, you know, ceasefire. He had hoped to fly in Zelenskyy, maybe even while Vladimir Putin was there. None of that happened.

And meanwhile, they’ve taken the pressure off the sanctions. I mean, again, Donald Trump was supposed to impose sanctions on Russia weeks ago now, and nothing. So, this was a -- a victory for Vladimir Putin.

RADDATZ: OK, thanks very much, Senator, for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.

Up next, President Trump is giving the cold shoulder to our neighbors to the north. In Canada, ABC's Steve Osunsanmi reports on the fallout from the president's trade war when we come back.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Our old relationship with the United States, a relationship based on steadily increasing integration, is over. We will chart a new path forward because this is Canada, and we decide what happens here.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RADDATZ: That was Prime Minister Mark Carney declaring the end of the U.S.-Canadian alliance on trade, which has been up-ended by President Trump's escalating tariffs.

ABC's Steve Osunsanmi traveled to our northern border to see the impact firsthand.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE OSUNSANMI, ABC SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While a number of nations have made last-minute trade deals before the president's deadlines to the world, some of them are refusing to bend to America. And one of them in the cold north is Canada, usually one of our warmest neighbors, and our second largest trading partner.

CARNEY: It is clear that we cannot count or fully rely on what has been our most valued trading relationship for our prosperity.

OSUNSANMI: So for the unforeseeable future, some of their products sold to the U.S. will have to suffer the new 35 percent tariff, the price for not giving in.

Many Canadians are now mad at America. When the trade war broke out, they started booing our national anthem at major sporting events with American teams.

We crossed the border and met Canadians who told us they won't even step foot in the United States, even if the two countries eventually come to a new deal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That would be nice for the, you know, our economy and the country, but I still personally won't go over there. No. Not as long as he's in power, no. No. I'll keep my money in Canada.

MAYOR MIKE BRADLEY, SARNIA, ONTARIO: I personally don't feel respected. Canadians don't feel respected.

OSUNSANMI: It's become a movement here. Elbows up, they call it.

MIKE MYERS, ACTOR: Elbows up.

CARNEY: Elbows up.

OSUNSANMI: A phrase from the ice rink telling hockey players to raise their elbows and fight back, and it's become a rallying cry against America's tariffs. And nowhere in America are they feeling those Canadian elbows more than in small towns we visited at the border.

How has business been since January?

ANNE LAGE, ANNE'S DINER OWNER: Sucked. It sucks. Yes. This is my worst year ever. Ever.

OSUNSANMI (voice-over): At Anne's Diner in Port Huron, Michigan, she's no longer seeing the carloads of Canadians who used to cross the bridge and eat breakfast before shopping at American malls.

LAGE: Like the ones that used to come in every single day, I don't see them no more.

OSUNSANMI: You don't see them?

LAGE: No. We get a lot of French Canadians in here. So as soon as we hear the accent, you know they're French Canadian. But we -- I have not seen a French Canadian in here all summer, and we are a tourist town.

OSUNSANMI (voice-over): She says this is her worst summer in 30 years.

LAGE: I think I made more money during COVID than this summer.

OSUNSANMI (voice-over): America sees more tourists from Canada than any other country, and last year, they spent an estimated $20 billion here. But this year, Canadian travel into the U.S. is down, nearly 33 percent by car and 22 percent by air, forcing United, Delta and other airlines to cancel flights. So many Canadian snowbirds are canceling vacations in California that the state is running this ad on Canadian television hoping to win them back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Truth is California just wouldn't be California without Canada.

OSUNSANMI (voice-over): And at the border towns that depend on this business, Americans are holding rallies, asking Canadians for forgiveness and waving their flag. At the Elite Feet shoe store, Greg Whitican worries how long his Canadian customers will stay home.

GREG WHITICAN, ELITE FEET OWNER: It's hard when we're just a small business like this in a -- in a small downtown, just trying to get people to come out and shop. We've seen a downtick in Canadian customers for sure. Yeah, but hopefully, they're going to come back.

OSUNSANMI (voice-over): Right on the other side of the border, this duty-free shop in Canada is hurting too. This is where Canadians shop for deals on their way into the states. And when we went, the place was empty.

OSUNSANMI: Has there been permanent damage done in your opinion?

TANIA LEE, BLUE WATER BRIDGE DUTY FREE CO-OWNER: I hope not. I really hope not. There's been a deep level of damage emotionally, I think, for everyone. But I think we can repair this because we are very close to our neighbors. Our cultures are very integrated, so I think -- I think it can be repaired.OSUNSANMI (voice-over): We heard over and over again from Canadians that they love Americans, but are feeling disrespected by the fight over tariffs. This mayor in Michigan says she prays every night for business owners in her city and for the fight with Canada to end.

MAYOR ANITA ASHFORD, PORT HURON, MICHIGAN: You know, the match was struck over here. It wasn't over there. And --

OSUNSANMI: The match was struck over here.

ASHFORD: The match was struck over here.

OSUNSANMI: What's your message to Canadians out there on the other side of this river, who don't want to step foot in America because of all of this?

ASHFORD: Well, my message to him is short and sweet. You're always welcome here, on this side of the border. We welcome you, open arms.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARTHA RADDATZ, ABC THIS WEEK, CO-ANCHOR: All thanks to Steve Osunsanmi. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RADDATZ: Thanks for watching on this Sunday, and have a great day.

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END