Politico reported in late spring of 2016 that Trump was the Kremlin's Candidate
Those are strange words coming from an ex-MSNBC liberal better known for casting Trump as a racist lout. But RT is a strange place. It styles itself as an edgy CNN or BBC, delivering unvarnished news and commentary with a mostly hip, young cast. But just under the surface is a bought-and-paid-for propaganda vehicle trying to nudge viewers toward Russia’s side of the story at a time when Moscow has increasingly become an international pariah, estranged from the West over its military aggression in Ukraine, Syria and elsewhere, its elites sanctioned and its economy struggling with isolation, decaying infrastructure and collapsing energy prices. …
The blustery billionaire has praised Putin as a strong leader, spoken of closer ties with Moscow and mused about whether NATO is obsolete. At the foreign policy speech Trump delivered in Washington on April 27, the Russian ambassador to the United States was sitting in the front row. As Trump has risen, RT has gotten much more interested in the U.S. presidential campaign. Tune in to Ed Schultz and his colleagues these days and you’ll find a presidential race featuring Hillary Clinton as a malevolent warmonger, Bernie Sanders as an insurgent hero—and Donald Trump as a foreign policy savant.
A network that up until now has found little to celebrate about America has finally settled on a candidate it can believe in. Vladimir Putin’s TV channel isn’t just covering the 2016 campaign: Increasingly, it’s choosing sides. …
On March 21, Trump was holding a news conference in Washington when he fielded an unusual question.
“You’ve hinted that you are open to better relations with Russia as president,” began a reporter who did not audibly identify himself. “Is that a difficult position to maintain with the media in kind of anti-Russian overdrive?”
“If we can get along with Russia, that’s very good,” Trump said. He noted that Putin, who has called Trump “an outstanding and talented personality,” “says very nice things about me.”
The short but puzzling exchange made more sense a few hours later, when RT aired a segment focused entirely on Trump’s answer. “Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump is calling for a dramatic change in U.S. policy towards Russia,” explained an RT host. Beneath him onscreen, a chyron declared that “Donald Trump Supports Improved Relations Between U.S. and Russia.” …
Not least in Moscow. In 2012, Republican nominee Mitt Romney had deemed Russia America’s greatest geopolitical rival, and in recent months, Romney called Putin “a thug [who] kills journalists and opponents.” Trump sees things rather differently. In recent months, he has called Putin a “strong leader,” and said he would “probably get along with” the Russian president. Putin responded in kind, adding that Trump “wants to move to … a deeper level of relations with Russia. How can we not welcome that?”
Trump was at his clearest in his April foreign policy address. “I believe an easing of tensions and improved relations with Russia, from a position of strength only, is absolutely possible,” he said. Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s ambassador to Washington, told me afterward that Trump had “made some intriguing points.”
In December, when Trump called Putin’s compliments a “great honor,” the MSNBC host Joe Scarborough asked the candidate if he had concerns about praise from “a person that kills journalists and political opponents and invades countries.” Trump was unfazed. “He’s running his country and at least he’s a leader. You know, unlike what we have in this country,” he said. And when ABC’s George Stephanopoulos pressed him on the point a few days later, Trump stood firm. “It’s never been proven that he’s killed anybody. So, you know, you’re supposed to be innocent until proven guilty,” Trump said. RT appeared to delight in the exchange. “Putin Killed Reporters? Prove It!—Trump to ABC Show Host,” declared a headline on the network’s website….
Trump also has startled foreign policy experts—and delighted Moscow—with his skepticism about the nearly 70-year-old NATO alliance, which he has said costs the U.S. too much and may be “obsolete.” RT has reveled in such comments, as well as the fierce backlash against Trump in Washington. “Trump vs Neocons,” read a chyron in one recent RT segment. “Trump Sparks NATO Debate: ‘Obsolete’ or ‘Tripwire That Could Lead to World War III’”? asked an online headline.
Hillary Clinton’s view of Russia is much closer to Romney’s than to Trump’s. The Democratic front-runner has called Putin a “bully,” compared his incursions into Ukraine to Hitler’s territorial grabs, and supported U.S. interventions in Iraq, Libya and Syria—all vehemently opposed by Putin. (Clinton also has praised her husband’s 1999 air campaign against Serbia, which infuriated pro-Slavic Russia.) Clinton has said that if Trump gets his way with NATO, “It will be like Christmas in the Kremlin.”
RT is not impressed. “Hillary Clinton leaves a trail of blood and suffering around the world and a clear record of exploitation and greed in her own country,” declared a March op-ed on RT’s website by an Australian journalist named John Pilger. A similar screed ran under the title “Hillary Clinton’s Record Is a Monument to Mendacity.”
After years of mocking and casting doubt that the Russians were behind the 2016 hack of the DNC, Trump finally admits that hacking is what the Russians do.
REPORTER: There's new reporting that Russians have hacked into computer systems that manage US federal courts documents. Do you plan to bring it up with Putin?
TRUMP: I guess I could. Are you surprised? They hack in -- what's what they do pic.twitter.com/N6AectFbBZ— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 13, 2025
Add new comment