President Donald Trump greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin at an American air base in Alaska on Friday with an elevated step that included the same type of bomber and combat planes used to attack Iran’s nuclear sites last June.
The two leaders walked along a red carpet in the joint base ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON with F-22 combat airplanes on both sides when the four F-35 and a B-2 Spirit bomber shot over.
According to two officials, two B-2 bombers were transferred to the base before Friday’s summit; The F-35 jets arrived from the nearby base of the Eielson Air Force in Alaska. F-22 airplanes were based on the MENDORF.
It was not clear immediately if Trump personally ordered the bombers and at the end of the base of the Air Force as a kind of sample of force before his discussions with Russia, which is also a nuclear energy.
The B-2 is considered a symbol of American power, since bombers can fly around the world without stopping and can transport conventional and nuclear ammunition. The stealth bombers B-2 are the same type used by the USA during the June Midnight Hammer operation, in which seven of the airplanes flew 36 hours directly from the Whiteman Air Force base in Missouri to Iran, where more than a dozen bunker-buuster pumps fell.
A B-2 bomber and four F-35 combat airplanes fly above when the president of the United States, Donald Trump, greets Russian President Vladimir Putin in the asphalt after they reached the Joint base the MENDORF-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP through Getty Images
The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comments.
In recent weeks, Trump has repeatedly praised the power of the B-2 plane and the ability of his pilots.
Trump has insisted that the sites were “erased.” American military officers say that an evaluation of damage is still underway. On August 6, he announced that his administration ordered a “new and improved” aircraft.
“It’s an incredible machine,” he told reporters, holding a small bomber model.
