China hosted its largest ever Victory Day parade to celebrate Japan’s surrender in World War 2 — then China’s occupying nation. The parade featured a display of the nation’s military firepower, and 26 world leaders were invited, but President Xi Jinping never drifted too far away from his Russian and North Korean counterparts. A move that Donald Trump read as an act of conspiring against the US.
Trump has never made it a secret how much he admires Russian President Vladimir Putin (he has also openly and controversially praised President Xi and Kim Jong Un, as well as their much-criticized style of administration). However, that admiration is seemingly unrequited. On Aug. 15, 2025, Trump hosted the Russian president in a summit he was hoping would enable him to broker a deal to finally end the Ukrainian-Russian war and improve his chance for his coveted Nobel Peace Prize.
