ANCHORAGE, AK – In what experts are calling “the most cryptic act of statesmanship in recent memory,” Russian president Vladimir Putin presented U.S. President Donald Trump with a picture of an oversized taco during the much-anticipated Alaska Summit on Friday.
Neither leader offered clarification, leaving governments, academics, and late-night hosts scrambling to decode the gesture.
White House officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, admitted they had “no briefing materials on taco-related symbolism,” while Kremlin representatives released a terse statement calling the picture “an image of sustenance and strength.”
Some experts argue it symbolizes “peace through guacamole,” while others believe the taco’s overstuffed filling represents the complexity of global politics.
Mexican officials have since issued a statement clarifying that they were “not consulted, but mildly amused.”
Meanwhile, conspiracy theorists online insist the taco is a coded message about oil pipelines, hidden treasure in Siberia, or perhaps Trump’s alleged late-night fast-food cravings. A popular theory claims the taco was actually pointing to the shape of Alaska itself, though geographers strongly disagree.
NATO leaders, caught off guard, convened an emergency meeting to determine whether the taco represented a peace offering, a veiled threat, or simply a two-for-one special Putin stumbled across online.
“Historically, food diplomacy has played an important role in thawing relations between nations,” said Dr. Elena Markov, a professor of international symbolism at Georgetown University.
“But this is the first recorded instance of a taco – especially one so alarmingly large being deployed as a geopolitical message. It raises the possibility that Putin is signaling a new ‘Era of Mexican Standoff,’ though that may be a pun we’re not yet ready to analyze.”
Trump, for his part, praised the gift, declaring: “It’s a tremendous taco, the best taco anyone has ever seen! It’s the biggest taco anyone’s ever seen, folks – Putin said so, and I believe him.”
He then reportedly asked aides whether it could be hung in Mar-a-Lago’s dining room, “next to the portrait of me looking very handsome.”
* Image: X.com/@Prune602