Joe Walsh’s Face Turn: Who He Is and Why He’s Right About Trump Being a Russian Asset
- john raymond
- Jun 16
- 3 min read
Who Is Joe Walsh?
Joe Walsh is a former Republican congressman from Illinois (2011–2013), best known for riding the Tea Party wave into Congress and for being, at one time, an outspoken, combative right-wing firebrand. But that’s only part of his story. After Donald Trump’s election, Walsh underwent a public and painful reckoning with the movement he once helped empower. He became one of the few Republicans to break ranks and stay broken, rejecting Trumpism outright.
In 2019, he even challenged Trump for the Republican nomination, knowing full well he’d lose, but using the campaign to try to wake up the GOP to what he saw as the danger Trump posed. Since then, Walsh has become a vocal critic of Trump, MAGA authoritarianism, and the broader moral collapse of the Republican Party. He is now an independent conservative commentator—and while still conservative in many ways, his critiques of Trump are unflinching, fact-based, and rooted in what many of his former allies refuse to admit.
So when Joe Walsh says Donald Trump is a Russian asset, it matters—not because Walsh is leftist or liberal, but because he isn’t. He’s someone who once believed in the GOP’s core and now sees Trump’s alignment with Putin as a betrayal not just of party, but of country.
Why Walsh Is Right: Trump’s Long Pattern of Deference to Russia
When Walsh calls Trump a “Russian asset,” he’s speaking from years of observation—and a mountain of public evidence. Let’s break it down.
1. Trump’s Relentless Deference to Putin
From day one, Trump has refused to criticize Vladimir Putin, even when handed direct opportunities. In Helsinki in 2018, standing beside Putin, Trump sided with the Russian dictator over his own intelligence agencies on the question of election interference. That moment wasn’t a gaffe. It was a tell.
2. His Role in Weakening NATO
Trump has done more to weaken NATO than any president in history. He’s questioned its relevance, threatened to pull the U.S. out, and most recently—in his second term—he’s begun pushing a “pay or get invaded” narrative that greenlights Russian aggression against underfunded allies. Putin has wanted NATO weakened for two decades. Trump is delivering it.
3. Policy Actions That Benefit Russia
Trump has repeatedly acted in ways that advance Russian strategic goals:
Undermining Ukraine aid at critical moments.
Holding up weapons shipments during his first term.
Refusing to act decisively after Russian bounties were placed on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.
Now, in Trump 2.0, laying the groundwork for a forced settlement that favors Russian terms and sacrifices Ukraine’s sovereignty.
4. Echoing Russian Propaganda
From calling NATO “obsolete” to adopting the Kremlin’s framing of Ukraine as corrupt or non-essential, Trump’s messaging consistently mirrors Russian state media. That’s not coincidence. It’s alignment.
5. The Strange Financial Ties and Black Holes
From years of dodgy real estate deals, to the Trump Tower Moscow project, to the persistent refusal to release full financial records, there’s long been reason to suspect Trump’s finances are entangled with Russian capital—if not directly then through intermediaries. No smoking gun is needed to recognize the pattern: dependence breeds deference.
“Asset” Doesn’t Mean Spy — It Means Useful Tool
Walsh’s phrasing is careful and accurate. He doesn’t call Trump a Russian spy. He calls him an asset. In intelligence terms, an “asset” is someone who serves the interests of a foreign power—whether or not they know it, and whether or not it’s transactional, ideological, or coerced.
Trump may not be on any FSB payroll — though we know he effectively is. He doesn’t have to be. He just has to:
Share Putin’s goals,
Act in ways that undermine U.S. interests and alliances,
And use his influence to shift public opinion and policy in ways that favor the Kremlin.
All of which he does. Routinely. Publicly. Brazenly.
That makes him, quite clearly, a Russian asset.
Why Walsh’s Warning Matters
Joe Walsh was once part of the machine that produced Trump. His turn against that machine cost him everything in the GOP. He has no reason to lie. No liberal base to please. No MSNBC contract dangling in front of him. When he speaks out, it’s because he sees the danger firsthand and refuses to stay silent.
And what he sees now, in Trump’s warmongering in Iran and abandonment of Ukraine, is not strategic incompetence. It’s intentional sabotage. It is a president doing what benefits himself and his foreign enablers—not his country.
Joe Walsh knows it. You should too.
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