Friday's meeting will mark the first time Putin will be in the U.S. since 2015. Trump on Monday mistakenly said he was "going to Russia" as he discussed the summit, though he also praised the fact that Putin is coming to the U.S. rather than the other way around.

Russia summit in Alaska is happening at a site where East meets West in a place familiar to both countries as a Cold War front line of missile defense, radar outposts and intelligence gathering.