Stephen A Smith praises Trump for Russia-Ukraine peace talks progress

ESPN host Stephen A. Smith praised President Donald Trump for the recent negotiations with Russia and Ukraine to end the ongoing war. 

Smith appeared in an interview on Fox News’ “Hannity” on Tuesday night and said Trump has done “more than any administration to end world conflicts.” 

“He has done more than practically almost any administration has tried to do when it comes to ending conflicts around the world and he’s put himself in a position where the political capital he stands to gain isn’t necessarily that great,” Smith said. 

“His willingness to do so obviously something that shouldn’t be ignored and something that should be, dare I say, applauded to some degree… there’s not much to gain for him in a lot of this, yet he engages anyway and you have to give credit where credit is due.”

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President Donald Trump meets with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office at the White House, Aug. 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt made the announcement during Tuesday’s press briefing. She clarified that “if necessary” there could be a trilateral meeting involving the U.S. after Putin and Zelenskyy meet.

“President Trump spoke with President Putin by phone, and he agreed to begin the next phase of the peace process, a meeting between President Putin and President Zelenskyy, which would be followed, if necessary, by a trilateral meeting between President Putin, President Zelensky and President Trump,” Leavitt said on Tuesday.

The announcement came just one day after Zelenskyy and several European leaders gathered at the White House to debrief following Trump’s high-stakes summit with Putin in Alaska. Leavitt highlighted European leaders’ praise for Trump following the Alaska and D.C. summits. 

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 President Donald Trump (R) greets Russian President Vladimir Putin as he arrives at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on Aug. 15, 2025 in Anchorage, Alaska. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

During a joint press conference on Friday after their meeting, Putin confirmed something that Trump has insisted for nearly four years — Russia would not have invaded Ukraine had Trump not lost the 2020 election. 

“I can confirm that,” Putin said at the end of the presser.

Smith has suggested that he himself may run for President in 2028 as a Democrat, and has not been as reluctant as other Democrat figures to praise Trump at times. 

Smith previously defended Trump against those who blame him for the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war during a fiery rant on his podcast, “The Stephen A. Smith Show,” on Monday.

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Stephen A. Smith appeared on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity.” (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)

During his defense of Trump, Smith shifted blame onto former presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton for their actions in the region while they were in office, arguing that the major catalysts for this war occurred on their watch.

“We ain’t gonna act like he [Trump] caused this now. It’s Democrats in office,” Smith asserted. “It was Biden in office when a full-fledged war against Ukraine took place, courtesy of Russia’s instigation, no matter what they try to say to Trump.”

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