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Presidents Trump and Putin met yesterday in Anchorage, but life in the city pretty much rolled on as usual. Still, it was a historic day. While some residents were unaware of the meeting, the significance was not lost on a lot of people in Alaska's largest city. Alaska Public Media's Hannah Flor reports.
(SOUNDBITE OF JET FLYING OVERHEAD)
HANNAH FLOR, BYLINE: Ken and Jason Remsen are watching a jet approach Anchorage. Jason points out the red Russian lettering on the plane.
JASON REMSEN: I believe it is Putin's plane about to touch down. We were tracking it on the Flightradar app.
FLOR: The father-and-son duo, visiting from New Jersey, are standing at a viewpoint on a waterfront near downtown.
REMSEN: Wow. Very cool.
FLOR: Others around the city went about their day as usual. Some hadn't even heard about the meeting. But a lot of people were thinking about it, like Ken Baitsholtz. He's farther down the same trail, looking for sandhill cranes, greater yellowlegs and other marsh birds. Baitsholtz says he was skeptical when he heard the meeting was taking place in Anchorage.
KEN BAITSHOLTZ: Everybody's thrilled for the attention, you know? And it's, oh, wow. We - I mean, if they're not as cynical as I am, then they're like, oh, good, Anchorage is on the map. And they're reporting us in the international news, and we're so important.
FLOR: In downtown Anchorage, life went on pretty normally. Ben Adler works in construction.
BEN ADLER: It's an interesting day, considering we got a dictator coming to the state. But, yeah, business as usual. Nothing really changes.
FLOR: Dedevi Satavi was dropping her eighth-grade son off for his first day of school in South Anchorage. She says she's heard rumors that Trump might use Alaska as a bargaining chip and the state would end up part of Russia again. But she says she doesn't think that's possible. Putin doesn't have that kind of power.
DEDEVI SATAVI: Putin is a one, and we were many (laughter). We have - we were many.
FLOR: Juanita Stucker didn't even know Trump and Putin were in Alaska. She was at a laundromat. The washer and dryer in her building were broken. She was surprised to learn that Trump didn't plan to spend any time here after the meeting. She thought he should see more of the state, go to a bunch of Alaska Native villages.
JUANITA STUCKER: And I'm sure everybody would greet him and let him know how important our culture is.
FLOR: North of downtown, a group of about 20 pro-Ukraine protesters gathered at the entrance of the base where Trump and Putin met. James Garrett Hermansen was one of them.
JAMES GARRETT HERMANSEN: It made my skin crawl because the devil is in my home, and I feel that evil shouldn't feel safe in Alaska.
FLOR: But Altagracia Guillen says everyone needs to chill out a little and have faith that things are going to be OK. The Dominican immigrant moved to Anchorage 35 years ago. She says she wants people to have more patience with Trump.
ALTAGRACIA GUILLEN: (Speaking Spanish).
FLOR: "For me, it's all good," she says. "I welcome him. Just like this country welcomed me, we can welcome him."
Meanwhile, at the University of Alaska Anchorage, another summit was taking place - the Arctic Visions Psychedelic Medicine Conference. Colonel Beth Law was one of this year's speakers. She was in the military for 34 years, and she's voted for Trump three times. When it comes to the summit, she thinks Trump's the guy for the job, but she's not so sure about Putin.
BETH LAW: What I want to say is Putin needs to pull his head out of his [expletive].
FLOR: She says she thinks psychedelics could help with that.
LAW: I don't think Trump needs them. I definitely think Putin needs them. Just - he's mean, and psychedelics make you nice (laughter).
FLOR: Whether this Trump-Putin summit will have any real impact on the world - or Alaskans - is unclear.
For NPR News, with reporting help from Eliza Dunn, I'm Hannah Flor in Anchorage.
(SOUNDBITE OF BOOKER T. AND THE M.G.'S "TIME IS TIGHT") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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