Trump, Russia, and the Kremlin's new information front. Russian media monitoring report in January-March 2025

Trump's inauguration

On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States. For Russian propaganda, it was a long-awaited holiday, the culmination of a months-long media campaign that portrayed Trump as a messiah who would end the West's "anti-Russian course":

"Trump's main task from humanity is to reconcile America and Russia so that there is no threat of nuclear war and the destruction of humanity."

"Trump is ours!" is a slogan that has now been filled with real meaning, and Russian propagandists have begun to talk about scenarios of America's turn toward Moscow one after another.

"Trump is ours!" is a slogan that has now been filled with real meaning

Even during the election campaign, the Kremlin did not hide its sympathy for Trump. Russian media portrayed him as a leader capable of breaking free of globalist control, destroying the unity of the West, and, most importantly, stopping military aid to Ukraine.

Instead, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and the US Democratic Party were presented as Russia's main enemies, agents of the "deep state" who are deliberately fomenting war to draw the US and the collective West into a global confrontation with Russia that could escalate into World War III:

"Biden's departure creates an excellent chance for peace in Ukraine. Biden is personally responsible for provoking Russia into the war through policy: no concessions to Moscow. Biden personally ordered the US army to participate in the war by launching an ATACMS ballistic missile strike on Russian territory. That is, Biden was ready to throw the world into a nuclear crisis. Therefore, Biden's departure is a huge chance to bring Ukraine to peace."

However, despite the euphoria, this rhetoric also contained a subconscious fear. After all, if Trump is really "one of our own," who will now be to blame for the failures of Russian policy?

While celebrating the "return of common sense in Washington," propaganda was simultaneously preparing backup scenarios. While the Russian information field was celebrating, top propagandists prepared escape routes. They urged not to overreact, as they would have to explain to the population who was to blame if "Trump is ours" did not deliver the expected results.

If the expectations are not met, it will always be possible to blame the "rebels" in Washington or Trump himself, who, they say, was "not decisive enough":

"The general conclusion of Trump's first days as President: Trump cannot make peace in Ukraine because the State Department is manipulating him. Just like in his first term."

The beginning of the Second Coming

Trump's first steps as President of the United States did not disappoint Russia, and this was reflected in its propaganda. Trump signed a series of decrees that fit perfectly into the Kremlin's narrative. The US withdrawal from the World Health Organization, the pardoning of the participants in the 2021 Capitol storming, and the announcement of a 90-day freeze on all US foreign aid were all presented in Russia as the beginning of "restoring justice."

On January 27, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which has funded many programs in Ukraine, suspended all funding for all projects without exception after the State Department issued an audit directive. The Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE) is also attacking USAID. Its head, Elon Musk, called USAID a criminal organization.

Earlier, President Trump told reporters that USAID is "run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we're going to drive them out and then make a decision" about its future. The propaganda is playing along:

"Musk has published classified USAID documents, which make it clear that USAID forbids those it gives money to criticize Zelenskyy and his Office of the President. To talk about Ukraine's war crimes. Talk about political repression in Ukraine. Talk about fascists in Ukraine. Talk about torture in Ukraine."

All of Trump's decisions were presented as blows to the "globalists" who allegedly run the United States.

It was a perfect story for the Kremlin: America was not only cutting off funding but also exposing its own "conspiracy" against Russia. Moscow has long based its information policy on the concept that the West is not just an enemy but a system of lies that destroys itself. Now, they have been provided with "proof".

It was a perfect story for the Kremlin: US wasn't only cutting off funding but also exposing its own "conspiracy" against Russia

The emergence of new faces in the Trump Administration has only strengthened this feeling. Musk at the head of DOGE, Tulsi Gabbard at the head of the National Intelligence Agency, Kash Patel at the FBI — all of this, according to the Kremlin, indicates a deep transformation of the United States towards isolationism.

"Musk will now have to hit the fascist regime in Ukraine hard. He must!" — this message has become the leitmotif of Russian TV broadcasts. For the first time, Russians got a picture of an America that seems to be not only indifferent to Ukraine but also deliberately working to destroy its support.

Trump also speaks with particular warmth about Putin. This is a key point. Propaganda glorifies Putin as a great politician and now weaves Trump into this mythological narrative.

Propaganda glorifies Putin as a great politician and now weaves Trump into this mythological narrative

The Russian audience needs to see that even the US president recognizes Putin's rightness:

"This is not Trump's New World Order. It's Trump trying to change America so that it can be more effective in the new world order created by Putin. Trump is trying to be like Putin! And this is so frightening for the Western world!"

The West in the Russian worldview is split. The "deep state," democrats, and globalists remain enemies. Still, now the United States has its "own" leader, who seems to be trying to adapt America to the new reality created by the Kremlin.

On February 12, Putin and Trump had a telephone conversation. It was a new act of propaganda:

"The policy of demonizing Putin has collapsed... The policy of political isolation of Russia has collapsed... The West is clearly split... Trump sees Putin as the great politician of our time. And Trump wants to be like Putin, a great politician. There is a real hope for the end of the war in 2025."

Russian propaganda is literally balancing between two worlds. One foot is already here, in reality, where the United States is becoming an ally of Moscow, where Washington, Moscow, and Beijing are redistributing spheres of influence as if at a new Yalta conference, and the other is still in the familiar paradigm of the "deep state," which can still intervene, block Trump's decisions, and continue the confrontation.

Vance delivers Putin's Munich speech

On February 14, US Vice President J.D. Vance delivered a speech at the 61st Munich Security Conference. In his speech, Vance openly criticized the leadership of the European Union for what he called a retreat from freedom of speech and democracy:

"Munich. Vance is a devastating criticism of Europe for its retreat from the principles of democracy and freedom. That's the main thing in his speech."

Some media outlets interpreted this speech, in tandem with the telephone conversation between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, as a turning point in relations between the European Union and the United States.

The words that Vance said at the Munich conference could have been said by Putin

Russian propaganda claims that Putin's ghost is in Munich, and Vance declares Europe an enemy of freedom and democracy. At the same time, he reflects on the incredible prospects for cooperation with Russia:

"Vladimir Putin actually spoke at the Munich Security Conference — all the words that US Vice President J.D. Vance said at the meeting of the world's political elite could be reproduced almost word for word by the Russian President with minor changes. The European Union is ruled by a bunch of bureaucrats who were not elected. In an attempt to fight "disinformation" and "extremism," EU authorities are gagging their own citizens."

Russian observers report a kinship between Putin and Trump:

"The fact is that J.D. Vance, Donald Trump, and Vladimir Putin all share a common feeling - a feeling of contempt for the weak elites of the European Union," as they are both 'sovereignists, supporters of sovereignty in international relations, and adherents of an ugly but honest political realism."

Trump's statements about claims to Greenland and Canada as the 51st state give propaganda grounds to talk about a potential conflict within NATO:

"The worse Americans and Europeans talk to each other, the better for Russia," "It would be ideal if America and Europe fought endlessly over this Greenland," "It is very beneficial for Russia. Russia also benefits from the collapse of the political union of Western countries. Russia also benefits from the collapse of economic ties in the world — it will be easier to circumvent anti-Russian sanctions in the context of general chaos."

Riyadh. An unexpected breakthrough

On February 18, the US and Russian delegations held talks in Saudi Arabia.

Before this meeting, Russian propaganda, despite its admiration for Trump, sometimes doubted its success, arguing that the United States might not be "leaking" Ukraine and was only misleading Putin:

"No one will give us anything, neither Trump nor the West, on a plate or a shovel. Russia takes everything either by the right of the strong or in battle."

At the same time, concerns were expressed about the possible consequences of the talks: "It is unlikely that after tomorrow's meeting, we should expect a detailed 'Trump plan' to end the war. However, the level of our diplomatic relations with America should increase after this conversation. Well... or degrade completely."

The military leaders were worried that the United States could pressure Putin to freeze the war. If Russia agrees to this, it should prepare for a new war.

The propagandists were also wary of putting pressure on Putin to abandon his allies:

"We need to clearly defend the interests of Russia and Russia alone, and in no case abandon our real allies who stood by us in difficult times. Russia has exactly two of them: Belarus and the DPRK. Iran can be partially included in this list."

The results of the meeting surprised not only the international community but also the propagandists themselves.

The results of the meeting surprised not only the international community but also the propagandists themselves

The main message is that Putin has outplayed everyone and now shares the balance of power with the United States:

"And here in Riyadh, they are starting to divide the world. Wow!" 'Trump has made it clear that he is ready to abandon his allies and unite with Putin,' 'But what will happen is the division of Ukraine.'

This is a breakthrough for Russian diplomacy, which the US Democratic Party has suppressed:

"Congratulations to the US Ambassador to Russia and all American diplomats. And all the long-suffering Russian diplomats in the United States who heroically suffered from the rudeness of the State Department under the maniacal Blinken. Your suffering is over!"

Trump for the Nobel Prize from Russia

The surge in Trump's fascination with Russian propaganda comes amid the conflicts between the United States and Ukraine.

On February 28, the US president and vice president, on the one hand, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on the other, quarreled with the White House. On March 4, it became known that Trump had suspended all military supplies to Ukraine, and the US had stopped providing intelligence.

Before that, Trump called Zelenskyy a "dictator without elections," essentially repeating Russian narratives:

"Why is Trump harshly criticizing Zelenskyy? Zelenskyy has always helped Trump's enemies. The main thing is that Zelenskyy helped Joe Biden hide the facts of the corruption of his son, Hunter Biden, in Ukraine. Zelenskyy is friends with all of Trump's enemies in the United States and Europe."

At the same time, the United States refuses to condemn Russia for its unprovoked aggression and even acts together on international platforms:

"Trump said that it was not Putin who was to blame for the war in Ukraine, but Biden and Zelensky. This is just a sensation"," Sensation in the UN. Voting at the UN on the Europe-Ukraine resolution condemning Russia's actions as alleged aggression. Russia and the United States voted against it. Even China and India did not mind but abstained."

The conflict between Ukraine and the United States was minimized after the meeting of the US-Ukrainian delegation on March 11, 2025, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The main achievements of the meeting were that the US unblocks military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine, and Kyiv agreed to an immediate truce if Putin agreed to it. "The ball is now in Russia's court," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the press after the talks.

On March 13, Putin responded that he was willing to "stop hostilities." However, "nuances" are of fundamental importance - guarantees that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will not use this time to rearm. At the same time, the Russian army, according to him, has an advantage at the front, especially in the Kursk region. In other words, Russia has been stalling for a long time.

On March 18, President Putin and Trump had a telephone conversation that had no concrete results, except for statements about a 30-day moratorium on mutual strikes on energy infrastructure and an agreement to negotiate further:

"Brief analysis of the results of the talks. Putin and Trump are on the same page... Now, everything used to hit the rear will be used to hit the front. That is why the fighting on the front is intensifying. The Russian army may intensify its offensive. Europe is left on the sidelines. This is revenge on Europe from Putin and Trump for the fact that European leaders hate them."

Russian propaganda claims that Russia has always wanted peace, but Ukraine and Europe are against it.

The world has been divided into supporters of peace (the United States and Russia) and those who continue to "add fuel to the fire of war" (Ukraine and Europe):

"The world has finally divided into decent people who are for peace and crazy cannibals who support war."

Public enemy number one

Against this background, Russia's main enemy is changing.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is an example of a somersault.

A few months ago, he claimed that Russia's main enemies were the Anglo-Saxons led by the United States. Still, now it is the Euro-bureaucracy and the British:

"People have come to power in the United States who directly say that they 'want to end all wars, they want peace,' but in Europe, they demand a 'continuation of the banquet' in the form of war." For the last 500 years (when the West was more or less formed in the form in which it has reached our days, naturally, with some changes), all the tragedies of the world originated in Europe or happened thanks to European policy. Colonization, wars, crusaders, the Crimean War, Napoleon, World War I, and Adolf Hitler. If we look at history retrospectively, the Americans did not play any inciting, let alone 'incendiary' role."

The very term "Anglo-Saxons" is being replaced by new ones. Propaganda new language in action. Other formulations were used: "Eurobureaucrats," 'European warmongers,' 'Euro-Atlantic Russophobes,' 'European political dwarfs,' 'macro no-fascists,' 'German militarists,' 'British colonialists.'

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova introduces a new term, "British-EUish":

"We are talking about the British-EUish' friends' of the criminal Zelenskyy regime, who are producing a hybrid war with Russia to the last Ukrainian."

Now, Zelenskyy is a puppet of the UK

The propagandists repeat the cliché about how British making trouble to Russia:

"The British will disrupt the negotiations between Russia and the United States and train a husky dwarf with Napoleon's habits," 'The EU, represented by Germany, France, Denmark, Belgium, Sweden, Poland, and the Baltic jackals, will support the British,'" Zelia and his London handlers are leaking a secret document with which the Trump team came to Kyiv."

Commenting on the statements of the "peace-loving Trump," propagandists argue that the United States will not be able to stop the war because of the resistance of the UK and the EU:

"Now the UK's position is clear — war to the last Ukrainian," 'Europeans humiliated by Trump will torpedo any Russian-American contacts and even start sending troops to Ukraine."

Another "main enemy" is France, led by Macron:

"Macron made an extremely aggressive speech. He accused Russia of being ready to invade European countries. He is lying. He accused Russia of being a threat to France and Europe. He is lying", 'Macron almost declared war on Russia in his address to the nation and to Europe. And it is very possible that very soon he will declare war on Russia."

The material was created with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation

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