The Morning: No deal

The uneventful Putin summit. Hurricane Erin.
The Morning
August 16, 2025

Good morning. Presidents Trump and Putin met for three hours in Alaska yesterday but emerged with no progress to share on the war in Ukraine. "There is no deal until there's a deal," Trump said at a news conference afterward. It was Putin's first face-to-face meeting with an American president since he started the war in 2022. Here's what you need to know.

Presidents Trump and Vladimir Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. Doug Mills/The New York Times
  • A deal? Both men referred to an agreement without detailing what it might be. Trump said he would call NATO officials to update them on the talks, which lasted about half as long as officials had planned. "Many points were agreed to, and there are just a very few that are left," Trump said. The word "cease-fire" was not mentioned. Following the talks, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said he would meet with President Trump in Washington on Monday.
  • Mutual admiration. Putin referred to Trump as his "dear neighbor" and, in a public relations gift, confirmed something Trump often claims: that he would not have attacked Ukraine if Trump had still been in the White House. Trump, in turn, spoke warmly of his friend "Vladimir."
  • Breaking protocol. As the summit began, the two presidents rode alone, without aides or interpreters, in Trump's limousine, a rarity. At the news conference later, Putin spoke first, unusual for a visiting head of state on American soil.
  • No questions. The presidents exited the stage after shaking hands, ignoring the raised hands of dozens of journalists from both their countries and around the world. That was unusual for Trump, who gave an interview shortly afterward to Fox News in which he put the onus for a cease-fire on Ukraine: "Now it is really up to President Zelensky to get it done."

We have more news below. But first: a word from one of our weather journalists. (Melissa Kirsch's column will be back next week.)

Andrew Testa for the New York Times; NOAA

Hurricane Erin

Author Headshot

By Erin McCann

I'm watching this storm a little more closely than usual.

I like to think I'm not a destructive person. A little clumsy, maybe. Not terribly tidy. But not a menace.

Yet a storm bearing my name is the year's first Atlantic hurricane; it may even become a Category 4. Storms get names, so this isn't that odd — except that my job is to assign and edit stories about coming storms.

My colleagues have started referring to Human Erin and Storm Erin to keep things straight. "Erin's raging," one joked yesterday. "I'm updating Erin," said another. Wait — the story or the editor?

We Erins have been here before. We got added to the list of names used for tropical cyclones in 1989. Ours comes up every six years. So the fifth storm this year, for E, means I'm in the news again. No Erin has been destructive enough to make officials retire the name. That's good: I don't want my name to strike fear. (Except when reporters miss deadline!)

This time, Hurricane Erin is likely to turn away from land by next week, so even if it musters some menace, it will do so at sea. More sound than fury. (Also, same.)

THE LATEST NEWS

Kenny Holston/The New York Times

D.C. Takeover

More Politics

Other Big Stories

  • Air Canada's 10,000 flight attendants went on strike, seeking pay for work they currently do without compensation when planes are on the ground. Here's what travelers need to know.
  • The stock market keeps climbing past bad news. This is why.
  • A colony of bats parked itself in the rustic hotel where economic policymakers from around the world will convene next week.

THE WEEK IN CULTURE

And Just Like That …

Sarah Jessica Parker, wearing a purplish robe, peers in through a doorway in a spacious room with molded walls and antique furniture.
Sarah Jessica Parker plays Carrie Bradshaw. Craig Blankenhorn/HBO Max
  • "And Just Like That …," the "Sex and the City" revival, ended this week. Sarah Jessica Parker spoke to The Times about how Carrie changed.
  • On "Cannonball," a Times podcast you can watch, Wesley Morris and Taffy Brodesser-Akner celebrate the show and blame you for its untimely end.

More on Film and TV

Music

  • To promote their upcoming albums, Taylor Swift and Drake — two of the biggest pop stars of the 21st century — gave (very) long interviews this week, Jon Caramanica notes.
  • There's a growing wave of new music videos for years-old songs. Some are tied to reissues, while others capitalize on viral moments.

More Culture

An animated GIF of people dancing in different styles using their hands.
Jungle ("Back on 74"); Universal Pictures ("Sweet Charity"); FKA twigs ("Childlike Things"); NYCB (Kay Mazzo in "Duo Concertante")
  • It can feel overwhelming to watch a dance. If you follow the hands, they can unlock the mysteries of a moving body, our dance critic Gia Kourlas writes.
  • A new Ralph Lauren collection and HBO's "The Gilded Age" show the complexities of portraying the Black elite, Yola Mzizi writes.

CULTURE CALENDAR

📺 "Long Story Short" (Friday): Raphael Bob-Waksberg's previous animated comedy "Bojack Horseman" was an unusually profound show about depression and fame, centered on an anthropomorphic horse. This one hits a little closer to home. Bob-Waksberg, who grew up in a Jewish family in Northern California, has written a show about a Jewish family in Northern California, the Schwoopers. Is that funny? Maybe! While this new show doesn't match the daunting gags-per-minute ratio of "Bojack," it includes an inventive time-pogoing structure and plenty of pathos among the jokes. The actors Lisa Edelstein, Paul Reiser and Abbi Jacobson raise their voices.

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

David Malosh for The New York Times

Raspberry-Nectarine Icebox Cake

David Tanis's raspberry-nectarine icebox cake is a no-cook sweet that brings cool comfort amid the heat. This fruit-filled confection is a bit like tiramisù with its lady fingers and billowing cream, but David gives it pops of color and juicy acidity by folding in ripe berries and stone fruit for a brilliant, mellow summer treat.

REAL ESTATE

Katherine Marks for The New York Times

The Hunt: A maple syrup farmer and "empty-nest bachelor" looked for a place to reinvent himself as a writer on the Upper East Side. Which home did he choose? Play our game.

What you get for $525,000: A condo in a 1910 building in Stonington, Maine; a Colonial Revival house in Warrenton, Ga.; or a 1929 ranch house in Durham, N.C.

LIVING

Seen from behind, a woman in a bridal dress walks down the aisle outdoors on the arm of a man in a black suit. The guests lining either side of the aisle have umbrellas up.
Taryn Baxter

Who'll stop the rain? At some weddings, the answer is a shaman.

Ask Well: "Does drinking milk actually make your bones stronger?"

Look of the Week: A city girl allergic to wearing black.

ADVICE FROM WIRECUTTER

A.C. not cutting it? Get a dehumidifier.

If you'll forgive the groan-inducing dad cliché, sometimes it really is the humidity, not the heat, that gets to you. You can crank your A.C., but it won't cool you down if your sweat can't evaporate. Enter the dehumidifier. We reach for these to dry out our basements, but it's closer to an air-conditioner than you might think. That's because wet air retains more heat. So on the worst summer days, I'll drag one of Wirecutter's top dehumidifiers (our favorite is on sale right now!) up out of the cellar. — Thom Dunn

GAME OF THE WEEK

Cal Raleigh of the Mariners watches as Francisco Lindor of the Mets hits a homer yesterday. Jim Mcisaac/Getty Images

Mets vs. Mariners, M.L.B.'s Little League Classic: The annual Little League World Series got underway this week in Williamsport, Pa., and the big leaguers are stopping by. The Mets and the Mariners will watch 10-, 11- and 12-year-olds from around the world compete before their own matchup, in a place whether neither team gets home-field advantage. It should be an entertaining contest for anyone who likes the long ball: Each team has two of the top 10 home run hitters. One of them, Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh — happily known as Big Dumper for his hefty caboose — has been one of the sport's most exciting players this year.

Tomorrow at 7:10 p.m. Eastern on ESPN

NOW TIME TO PLAY

Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangram was opulent.

Take the news quiz to see how well you followed this week's headlines.

And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands.

Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — Melissa

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Editor: Adam B. Kushner

News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti

Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson

News Staff: Evan Gorelick, Desiree Ibekwe, Brent Lewis, Ashley Wu

News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar

Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch

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