We don’t talk about Trump The Kremlin is scrambling to control the domestic narrative about Trump, lest it seem like the U.S. president is achieving what Putin couldn’t
Things may be shifting quickly in U.S.-Russia relations, but the Kremlin is moving just as fast to control the narrative at home. After Donald Trump’s Wednesday call with Vladimir Putin, officials instructed state-run and pro-government media to emphasize the Russian president’s leadership, downplay Trump’s role, and mention the U.S. president less often — lest it appear as though Trump is achieving results Putin failed to deliver.
Shortly after Donald Trump was inaugurated as U.S. president on January 20, the Kremlin’s main think tank, the Social Research Expert Institute (EISI), held a roundtable titled “What Trump Means for Us: Expectations for the New U.S. President and the Future of Russian-American Relations.” According to Kommersant, the discussion featured pro-Kremlin experts speculating on how Trump would “pursue global hegemony” and warning that his peace proposals “might not be acceptable to the Russian side.” Kommersant also reported that the Kremlin was working to lower expectations about Trump’s presidency.
Then, on February 12, after a 90-minute phone call between Vladimir Putin and Trump, the Kremlin issued new messaging guidelines to state-run and pro-government media. News reports on the call were to frame it as Putin’s initiative and victory. Outlets were also instructed to mention Trump’s name less frequently, both in coverage of the talks and in connection with U.S. news in general.
The Kremlin’s domestic policy team is reportedly concerned that Russians might start seeing Trump as a more proactive and decisive leader than Putin. To prevent this, officials directed journalists to emphasize that the outcome of any negotiations depends entirely on Putin — not his American counterpart.
Two examples of talking points outlined in the instructions include:
- “It’s [Putin], not Trump, who decides their fate.”
- “In the end, the [Russian] president will get what he wants.”
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A political strategist working with the domestic policy team told Meduza that the Kremlin doesn’t want Trump to be perceived as a “strong leader capable of changing the situation.” “The [Russian] president would appear passive — in other words, weak — by comparison. It would look like Putin failed where Trump succeeded. That’s not an image anyone wants.”
At the same time, the Kremlin wants to keep expectations in check. News coverage shouldn’t create any “false, overly optimistic expectations.” Instead, readers and viewers are to be told that “Putin and Trump are effectively crossing Zelensky and the E.U. off the list of those they consider capable of holding a meaningful dialogue, and Kyiv and Brussels are rapidly losing their say — the leading parties in the negotiations are no longer interested in their opinions.” The Kremlin’s media strategists suggest framing the call itself as evidence of a newly multipolar world order.
This week, news outlets were also instructed to scale back the number of articles mentioning Trump — not just in foreign affairs but also in U.S. domestic politics.
Some of Russia’s largest online media platforms have already adjusted their coverage. Lenta.ru has put Putin — not Trump — at the center of its headlines. In one report, Gazeta.ru wrote that “Trump agreed with Putin” and “recognized the need for a lasting resolution to the conflict.” The tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets claimed that Trump, “like Putin,” is eager to broker peace and that, after the conversation, “everything about Zelensky became clear.” Meanwhile, Komsomolskaya Pravda assured its readers that Europe is in a state of “shock and horror.”
According to the political strategist working with the Kremlin, Russians are interested in Trump because “news about him is news about change.”
“Whether for better or worse — that can only be judged up close. From the outside, everything looks like an improvement: [U.S.] officials are being fired, wasteful spending is being cut. How it plays out in reality — no one knows. But to the average person who isn’t deep in the details, it looks good,” the strategist said. “And then they start to wonder: ‘Why isn’t it like that here?’ That contrast is what we need to neutralize.”
Story by Andrey Pertsev