Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson. And today is Friday, August 15th, 2025. This is USA Today's The Exert.

Today ahead of Trump and Putin's meeting, we discuss why Alaska. Plus, the Supreme Court declines to block a state law limiting kids' use of social media for now,

and California's governor announces a special election to redraw maps.

President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to meet later today in Alaska.

They'll come together at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson,

thousands of miles

from both the White House and the Kremlin and on land that once belonged to Russia. So why does

Alaska make sense for the eyebrow-raising meeting? I spoke with USA Today, national correspondent

Trevor Hughes to learn more. Trevor, thanks for hopping on, sir. Absolutely, glad to be here.

So just starting with this, Trevor, tell us a bit about the military base where Trump. Glad to be here. So just starting with this, Trevor,

tell us a bit about the military base where Trump and Putin will be meeting. So it's known as

J-Bair, for those of us who've been to Alaska, and I've been there many, many times in the

course of reporting for USA today. It is just a giant base on the edge of Anchorage. The military

has a huge presence in Alaska, ironically, because

they do so much patrolling of the coasts and the air for Russian planes and ships.

And Alaska as a whole really is preparing to play an increasing role on the world stage,

as you write, Trevor. How so? Well, Alaska has always been a place where we've found gold and oil, and those

are hugely important to the economy. But increasingly, there are thoughts that perhaps there are

rare earth minerals that could be in Alaska, and if not Alaska, in other polar regions.

And as ice melts, what we're seeing is more and more ships traveling through that area,

both for exploration and simply

because it's a faster way to get between Asia and Europe. People in Alaska see their state

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