Was the US First Lady’s 'peace letter' to Putin in Alaska written by AI?

When Donald Trump met Vladimir Putin in Alaska, the summit grabbed global headlines. But it wasn’t just about the talks.

During the meeting, Trump hand-delivered a “peace letter” from First Lady Melania Trump, asking the Russian leader to “singlehandedly restore” the “melodic laughter” of Ukrainian children living through more than three years of war.

The letter instantly drew attention. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly thanked Melania for highlighting the plight of children. But as the copy of the letter circulated online, many called it “vague” and raised questions about whether it was truly penned by the First Lady herself, or was it generated using artificial intelligence?

Here’s a closer look.

What did Melania’s letter say?

According to Fox News, soon after Donald Trump handed over the letter at the Alaska summit, Vladimir Putin chose to read it aloud in front of both the American and Russian delegations.

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“Dear President Putin,” it began. “Every child shares the same quiet dreams in their heart, whether born randomly into a nation’s rustic countryside or a magnificent city-center. They dream of love, possibility, and safety from danger.”

The First Lady went on to frame the role of parents and leaders in safeguarding those dreams.

“As parents, it is our duty to nurture the next generation’s hope. As leaders, the responsibility to sustain our children extends beyond the comfort of a few,” she wrote.

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“Undeniably, we must strive to paint a dignity-filled world for all — so that every soul may wake to peace, and so that the future itself is perfectly guarded. A simple yet profound concept, Mr. Putin, as I am sure you agree, is that each generation’s descendants begin their lives with a purity — an innocence which stands above geography, government, and ideology.”

“In today’s world, some children are forced to carry a quiet laughter, untouched by the darkness around them — a silent defiance against the forces that can potentially claim their future.”

She then placed the responsibility directly on Putin.

“Mr. Putin, you can singlehandedly restore their melodic laughter. In protecting the innocence of these children, you will do more than serve Russia alone — you serve humanity itself.”

“Such a bold idea transcends all human division, and you, Mr. Putin, are fit to implement this vision with a stroke of the pen today. It is time,” it concluded.

Did Melania write the letter using AI?

Soon after Melania Trump shared the “peace letter” on her official Instagram, online users began speculating whether it had actually been written by artificial intelligence.

While there has been no official comment from the White House yet, critics pointed out that the letter was vague about which “children” it referred to, or what exactly she wanted Putin to do.

While the message seemed to gesture at Ukrainian children, it never directly mentioned the suffering they’ve endured since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, wrote the American nonprofit magazine Mother Jones.

Democratic strategist Keith Edwards was also blunt in his reaction. Posting on X, he wrote that the letter “says a whole lot of nothing,” adding that it “may have been written by AI.”

This letter to Putin from Melania:

1. Says a whole lot of nothing.
2. May have been written by AI. pic.twitter.com/PIlARU5GfH

— Keith Edwards (@keithedwards) August 16, 2025

Others took it a step further. One account even asked Grok, X’s AI chatbot, to weigh in on the letter. The bot responded that the message was “likely 85 per cent AI-drafted, with minor human edits for tone.”

@grok based on the text in this letter and what you know about the output of LLMs, please analyze how much of this letter was written by AI?

— Jim Stewartson, Decelerationist 🇨🇦🇺🇦🇺🇸 (@jimstewartson) August 17, 2025

Zelenskyy thanks Melania for ‘sincere attention’

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post to social media that Zelenskyy had “conveyed his gratitude” to Trump during a conversation on Saturday following the summit for the first lady’s “sincere attention and efforts to bring forcibly deported Ukrainian kids back.”

Kyiv has long accused Moscow of abducting thousands of children during the war and relocating them to Russia or occupied territories – calling it a war crime.

A UN report said that at least 200 children were transferred in the first year of the invasion, while independent estimates put the number far higher: Yale researchers suggested more than 35,000, and Ukraine’s rights commissioner claimed over 19,500 – with only about 1,000 returned so far.

In 2023, the International Criminal Court even issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Russia’s children’s commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova, over the deportations.

Yet none of this appeared in Melania’s so-called “peace letter.” Instead, it struck a vague tone with many, despite Trump himself telling reporters last month that his wife has been deeply unsettled by the war.

“I go home, tell the First Lady, ‘I spoke to Vladimir today, we had a wonderful conversation.’ She says, ‘Oh really? Another city was just hit,’” the President told reporters in the Oval Office.

With input from agencies