Trump Doesn’t Need Briefings from the Kremlin
- john raymond
- May 30
- 2 min read
Trump doesn’t need briefings from the Kremlin, even though he has had them...
That phrase has been used to absolve him—by journalists, by political analysts, and even by national security voices—as if the absence of direct instructions erases the role Trump plays. But the reality is that Trump has never needed direct briefings. He surrounds himself with the briefings in human form. From his first term with Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn to his current alliances with figures like Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump builds his orbit from known vectors of Russian influence. That is his daily briefing.
The function of a briefing is to shape perspective, direct attention, and encourage certain actions. What makes Trump so effective as an asymmetric actor is that this shaping happens through proximity, ideology, and shared outcomes—not memos. Manafort didn't just walk in off the street; he was already working with pro-Russian interests in Ukraine before becoming campaign chairman. Giuliani wasn’t freelancing; he was echoing narratives seeded by Kremlin intermediaries. And now, in 2025, Musk and RFK Jr. serve similar functions—normalizing anti-Western rhetoric, undermining public health and institutional trust, and amplifying Kremlin-aligned narratives under the guise of dissent.
Trump’s instincts don’t arise in a vacuum. They are reinforced by this constant ambient reinforcement—an environment designed to echo Moscow’s goals. Undermine NATO. Delay aid to Ukraine. Frame American democracy as corrupt. Discredit the press. Each of these moves is rooted in a structure of strategic convergence.
So no, he doesn’t need a whispered message from the Kremlin every day. He has built an ecosystem that delivers the same payload through other means. He hears what he needs to hear because he has installed the people who say it. He acts in alignment not because he gets briefed daily, but because he’s been conditioned—and willingly so.
Asymmetric war does not depend on chain-of-command communication. It depends on shared outcomes and predictable actors. Trump is both. So he doesn’t need daily briefings.
He brings compromised broadcasters with him.
Comments