Donald Trump’s pro-Vladimir Putin stance has triggered claims he is a Kremlin tool, a KGB-recruited agent for Russia or perhaps he just really admires authoritarian gangster bosses. Which is true?
As the dust settles following the Oval office bust-up between the US President and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, allegations of Donald Trump’s shady links to Putin persist.
Serious claims Trump was signed up in the 1980’s by then KGB spies have gained root in recent years and fresh claims have recently emerged – but could he really be a spy? Trump has relentlessly refused openly to criticise Putin despite a tsunami of evidence the Russian leader is a war criminal over his vile full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He has even pressed his argument that Ukraine was somehow responsible for the war, that Zelensky ought to be more “thankful” for American help and reiterated he knows Putin.
His warmth towards Vladimir Putin and apparent betrayal of Europe is so blatant that if he really is a Russian stooge, it is almost too obvious to be true – unless he is hiding in plain sight. And incredibly he has even suggested that he trusts Putin more than he does America’s own intelligence agencies.
Here we look at the five possible explanations for Trump’s worrying support for the Kremlin leader:
1. He is working for Russian intelligence
The claim is that he was charmed, feted and recruited by the then KGB during the 1980’s, talent-spotted as a businessman who would one day be very influential. He visited Moscow in 1987 and it is almost impossible to imagine he was not secretly filmed, perhaps leading to compromising footage for leverage. Bombshell claims by former Soviet intelligence boss Alnur Mussayev suggest the then 40-year-old New York real estate developer was given a codename ‘Krasnov’ in 1987. This was, it is claimed, part of a wave of KGB recruitments of western ‘people of influence’ to collaberate with Russia. Anthony Scaramucci, who was briefly Trump’s White House communications director in 2017, suggested that Trump’s deference to Putin has puzzled many, adding: “I think there is a mysterious ‘hold’ on the president.” Trump tried briefly for the US Presidency in the 1980’s and openly criticised NATO after this period. These are compelling claims which Trump has always denied.
2. He’s just a Putin patsy
Here the truth might be far more subtle and likely than the above theory as Trump is too unreliable, irrational and uncontrollabe for the KGB to trust he could handle the pressure of life undercover for years as a serious asset, learning counter-surveillance and old-school techniques. But they may have charmed and flattered him, financially benefited him, played upon his ego, perhaps even via his appetite for beautiful women and made him a “passive agent.” in other words- he does not know or perhaps does not care that he has been manipulated into supporting Putin on behalf of Russian intelligence . But he has been persuaded and influenced to such a degree that he really believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is in the right and because of his arrogance is happy to push this theory and not care a jot that the view is unacceptable to European allies. His arrogance and possible psychopathy may also mean Trump does not feel danger and that it does not matter he is so obviously hazardously warm towards to the Kremlin.
3. He just hates Zelensky
Perhaps he simply hates Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky because the Ukrainian President refused to play ball when asked by Trump in 2019 to help him dish dirt on the Biden family, via Hunter’s business deals in Ukraine. This attempt was driven by former New York Mayor Rudi Giuliani, Trump’s then lawyer. It centred upon unproven allegations Joe Biden had corrupt dealings with Ukraine as vice-president. Kyiv intelligence says money paid to three Ukrainian men to help this inquiry was paid by Russian military intelligence (GRU). This was aimed at spreading the lie that Ukraine, rather than Russia, interfered in the recent US elections.Trump pushed for Ukrainian lawmakers to investigate Hunter Biden, most famously in a phone call with President Zelensky, but the Ukrainian leader declined. So perhaps for Trump it’s personal and he wants revenge – at any cost, even to his own country.
4. It’s financial – Trump has been on the take
Even more likely: As a former intelligence officer tells: “It has to be financial” and he has benefited from real-estate dealings in the US, with Russian ‘businessmen’ or mafia involving themselves in Trump’s property empire. This could hugely compromise him and threatening to bring down his wealth and power if he does not play ball. There are also possible links to the Russian and US mob. In Russia the mafia and the modern KGB, the FSB are much more closely linked now and Putin runs the country like a mob boss, taking 50% of every major business deal.
5. It’s all of the above
Russia has changed hugely since the 1980’s and grown into a shady gangster-run crime venture, with the mafia and underworld gelling with Moscow’s intelligence agencies. Trump’s relationship with Russia may now be undefiined but he is swayed hugely because of his ego, fears a secret may come out, financially benefiting from Russia links. Agents recruited to work for Russian intelligence and other agencies can take many forms and in the ensuing years since the 1980’s the Soviet Union collapsed and intelligence workers moved on, some perhaps keeping up their contacts in a different guise. Now Trump may be an “agent of influence”.
Crucially Trump appears to fawn over strongman authoritarians with leanings towards fascism – and he hates Zelensky so much that he cannot hide his feelings. He is notoriously thin-skinned and hates being opposed. Zelenksy’s tough defence of his country and demands for a security backstop in a peace deal with Russia has put a temporary glitch in the way of Trump’s desire to look like he can sort out the deal – hugely escalating his enmity towards the Ukrainian leader.
