DNYUZ
  • Home
  • News
    • U.S.
    • World
    • Politics
    • Opinion
    • Business
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Science
  • Entertainment
    • Culture
    • Music
    • Movie
    • Television
    • Theater
    • Gaming
    • Sports
  • Tech
    • Apps
    • Autos
    • Gear
    • Mobile
    • Startup
  • Lifestyle
    • Arts
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel
No Result
View All Result
DNYUZ
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Putin Gives $22K Motorcycle to Alaskan Retiree After Viral Trump Summit Interview

August 20, 2025
in News
Putin Gives $22K Motorcycle to Alaskan Retiree After Viral Trump Summit Interview
496
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

A retired Alaskan fire chief unexpectedly emerged as the biggest winner of last week’s Trump-Putin summit after he was personally gifted a brand-new $22,000 motorcycle by the Russian president.

Mark Warren first caught Putin’s attention when he was interviewed by two Russian journalists around a week before the summit Friday.

The 66-year-old had been riding his Ural sidecar motorcycle around Anchorage when he was approached by the TV crew, During the interview, he shared he was having difficulty obtaining parts for the used bike.

Warren explained that there was only one mechanic in the whole of Alaska who works on the bikes. The mechanic sources parts from a dealership in Washington, which imports them from a factory in Kazakhstan – a long and convoluted process.

Unbeknownst to Warren though, clips of his interview unexpectedly went viral in Russia, so much so that they even caught the attention of Putin himself.

“It went viral, it went crazy, and I have no idea why, because I’m really just a super-duper normal guy,” Warren said. “They just interviewed some old guy on a Ural, and for some reason they think it’s cool.”

Alaska resident Mark Warren rides his new Ural motorcycle, a gift from Russian President Vladimir Putin, handed over by a Russian Embassy official, in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 18, 2025.
Alaska resident Mark Warren was gifted his new motorbike by Putin after going viral in Russia. Reuters

Then on August 13, two days before the summit, Warren was contacted again by the Russian journalists who shared an extraordinary piece of news: “They’ve decided to give you a bike.”

Shortly afterwards, Kremlin officials contacted the retiree and informed him that Putin himself would be traveling with the bike, and that the Russian president wished to gift it to Warren – something he found to be “bats–-t crazy.”

After the summit took place, Warren was contacted again by Russian diplomat Andrei Ledenvev, who instructed him to come to the parking lot of the Lakeview Hotel, where the Russian delegation had been stationed. It was there he found the brand new bike waiting for him.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin rides a motorcycle on August 29, 2011 at a bikers' festival in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, Russia. Putin described leather-clad bikers as brothers and boasted of the
Putin is a known fan of Ural motorcycles and had ridden them before. IVAN SEKRETAREV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

“I dropped my jaw,” he said. “I went, ’You’ve got to be joking me.’”

All they asked for in return, he said, was a follow-up interview to be broadcast on Russian TV.

“I’m dumbfounded,” Warren said. “I guess I should probably write Putin a thank-you letter or something.”

He added: “If they want something from me, they’re gonna be sorely disappointed.”

The only reservation he had about accepting the bike was that he might later be implicated in a Russian scheme, but the delegation assured him the gift was, in this case, purely altruistic.

“I don’t want a bunch of haters coming after me that I got a Russian motorcycle. I don’t want this for my family,” he said.

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA - AUGUST 15: (RUSSIA OUT) U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Russian President Vladimir Putin to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on August 15, 2025 in Anchorage, Alaska. The two leaders are meeting for peace talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. (Photo by Contributor/Getty Images)
Neither Putin nor Trump exchanged gifts in Alaska. Contributor/Getty Images

Upon returning home and inspecting the paperwork, Warren also noticed the bike had been manufactured on August 12, just a day before the Russian delegation departed to Alaska. Its approximate market value is believed to be around $22,000.

“The obvious thing here is that it rolled off the showroom floor and slid into a jet within probably 24 hours,” he added.

All in all, Warren appeared to be the biggest beneficiary of the summit in Alaska, during which neither Putin nor Trump exchanged gifts or made any significant progress on ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Putin did, however, previously gift Trump a portrait of himself raising his fist after surviving his assassination attempt back in March, which was painted by “a leading Russian artist” and given to the president, who was reportedly “touched” by the gesture.

The post Putin Gives $22K Motorcycle to Alaskan Retiree After Viral Trump Summit Interview appeared first on The Daily Beast.

Tags: U.S. News
Share198Tweet124Share
Fox News hosts were determined to help Trump stay in office after 2020 election, legal filing says
Arts

Fox News hosts were determined to help Trump stay in office after 2020 election, legal filing says

by Los Angeles Times
August 20, 2025

The 2020 presidential election is history, but a legal dispute over Fox News’ reporting on President Trump’s false claims of ...

Read more
Business

2 arrested, 2 wanted for assaulting clerk and robbing business in Decatur

August 20, 2025
News

Frank Caprio, Rhode Island judge who drew a huge online audience with his compassion, dies at age 88

August 20, 2025
News

Authorities bust L.A. storefronts selling millions in merchandise stolen from trains, ports

August 20, 2025
News

Mets’ Trade Deadline Addition Could Leave For Orioles After Latest Development

August 20, 2025
Cowboys Legend Comes to Eagles’ Defense After Recent Trade

Cowboys Legend Comes to Eagles’ Defense After Recent Trade

August 20, 2025
Jessica Alba’s estranged husband, Cash Warren, kisses much-younger model on PDA-packed date

Jessica Alba’s estranged husband, Cash Warren, kisses much-younger model on PDA-packed date

August 20, 2025
Target CEO to step down as sales plunge; liberals blame company for dropping DEI

Target CEO to step down as sales plunge; liberals blame company for dropping DEI

August 20, 2025

Copyright © 2025.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • U.S.
    • World
    • Politics
    • Opinion
    • Business
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Science
  • Entertainment
    • Culture
    • Gaming
    • Music
    • Movie
    • Sports
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Tech
    • Apps
    • Autos
    • Gear
    • Mobile
    • Startup
  • Lifestyle
    • Arts
    • Fashion
    • Food
    • Health
    • Travel

Copyright © 2025.