Kremlin Insiders Spill Putin’s Secret Plan to Manipulate Trump
Head of RT Margarita Simonyan, a decorated state TV propagandist and Kremlin insider, has spilled not only Russia’s hopes and dreams for Donald Trump’s second term in office but also Moscow’s strategy for suckering him in.
She believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin has an irresistible sway over Trump and will extract the desired outcome—but only if they meet face-to-face, without any influence or interference from other American power brokers, à la Helsinki, where the two men held discussions in secret.
The head of RT is convinced that a personal meeting between Trump and Putin will totally reverse the course taken by the Biden administration, including the sanctions that banned her propaganda network from American airwaves. Speaking on the program The Right To Know, Simonyan predicted that the incoming Trump administration would attempt to establish good relations with Russia and lift multiple sanctions. According to her, RT has good reason to believe that under Trump, it will return to the U.S. cable networks.
Simonyan explained that the ban cost many Americans their jobs and that alone should prompt Trump to reverse course. She noted, “These are American citizens and not the immigrants that irritate Trump. These are real Americans with real values that Trump and Elon Musk are defending.” The RT boss expressed her belief that this simplistic “explanation” should suffice for the incoming administration to lift the sanctions against Russia’s premier state TV outlet. Simonyan said, “I think there is no way Trump doesn’t understand this—and if he doesn’t, it’s just because the word didn’t get to him yet, in which case we’ll make sure that it does.”
At the same time, Simonyan admitted that she dreams of Russia becoming more like China in terms of totalitarian government censorship that will allow Moscow to control its domestic info-space while banning Google, YouTube, and other foreign platforms from Russia.
Simonyan scoffed at Trump’s promise to achieve peace in Ukraine in 24 hours and shrugged off his interest in a peace deal as part and parcel of American politics. She aligned the intellectual level of American politicians to Soviet kindergarteners and ascribed their disagreements to childish spite. Simonyan mused, “If Biden is for war, then Trump is for peace. Otherwise, how will he set himself apart?”
Simonyan and other prominent state TV propagandists are not impressed by the proposals allegedly put forth by Trump’s team. The idea of European peacekeepers that would monitor a potential ceasefire has ruffled feathers in Moscow, prompting state TV host Vladimir Solovyov to threaten them in advance: “We will kill all of you.”
According to state TV experts, Russia remains disinterested in any peace deal that would not involve Ukraine’s unconditional capitulation.
Peacemaking proposals aside, Trump’s cabinet picks continue to thrill Putin’s mouthpieces. Simonyan noted, “I would endorse most of what [Vivek] Ramaswamy says.” She readily admitted, “These people who are being announced as potential members of his team certainly bring us lots of joy. Most of these people are constant guests of RT’s broadcasts. Until RT was shut down, they were our constant guests. For example, Tulsi Gabbard, who keeps being hounded about this right now, “Ah, you love RT, you constantly shared their clips, you constantly went there.” Well, she did come to us all the time, it’s true. It’s not something you can conceal—and she is not the only one.”
Many prominent propagandists and experts eagerly anticipate Trump’s impending arrival. Experts on Vladimir Solovyov’s show, The Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, urged the Kremlin not to withdraw Russian troops from Syria. Even that situation is expected to shift in Russia’s favor under Trump. Russian experts predicted that under the new US administration, “life will become easier, significantly easier.”
In general, the head of RT reported that Trump’s potential appointees fill her with optimism. Simonyan boasts about her ability to predict the future using logic. She recounted predicting a big war between Russia and Ukraine in December 2021 and later collecting multiple bottles of champagne from everyone who bet against her premonition—which might have been boosted by her close ties to the Kremlin. Journalist Maxim Yusin noted, “It’s either due to your logic or reliable sources of information—perhaps both.”
Leaning into her self-proclaimed reputation of a soothsayer, Simonyan promised, “Either way, we will win. You’ll see.”
