Russian Propaganda Has Hidden Trump's Statement About Putin "going Crazy" From Russians
- 26.05.2025, 20:12
Russian federal TV channels "did not notice" the US president's statement.
Russian federal TV channels, state agencies and controlled online media did not cover US President Donald Trump's statement calling Vladimir Putin "crazy" and promising to strengthen sanctions against Russia after another massive strike by the Russian Armed Forces on Ukrainian peaceful cities. As "Agency" pointed out, propaganda chose to focus exclusively on criticism of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, which was also contained in Trump's comment.
That is, the news broadcasts of Russia 1 (at 11:00) and Channel One (at 12:00) did not mention Trump's words about Putin at all. Instead, the broadcasts focused on another event - a gesture by the wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, which the anchors interpreted as a sign of a marital quarrel. Macron himself later clarified that it was a joke. The state agency TASS titled the material as follows: "Trump: Zelensky constantly creates problems for Ukraine with his statements". The text makes no mention of possible sanctions against Russia, nor does it directly criticize Putin. Only the conclusion briefly says: "He [Trump] reiterated his displeasure with Russia's recent massive strike on targets in Ukraine. Trump argued that Russian authorities have a hypothetical desire to gain all of Ukraine, which could 'lead to the collapse of Russia'."
The RIA Novosti news agency wrote in the headline, "Trump criticized Zelensky and expressed his displeasure with Russia." However, the piece itself again emphasized Trump's remarks about the Ukrainian president, and the harsh words about Putin were omitted. "RIA Novosti" separately published a note about the possible introduction of sanctions against Russia by the United States.
Political talk shows on federal TV channels also ignored Trump's statement about Putin. The "Vremya Pokazhet" program, which followed a Channel One news broadcast, quoted only part of a post in which the U.S. president criticized Zelensky: "President Zelensky is not doing his country any good by speaking the way he speaks." The "60 Minutes" show, which ran after the morning news on Rossiya 1, made passing mention of the possibility of sanctions, but focused again on criticizing Zelensky.
Major online publications also did not focus on Trump's remarks about Putin. Thus, Kommersant, Lenta.ru and Gazeta.ru did not mention the words about "madness" at all. RBC cited the relevant quote, but titled the material as: "After displeasing Putin, Trump criticized Zelensky" - the focus shifted again to the Ukrainian president.
Trump had earlier said in a conversation with journalists, referring to Putin: "He kills a lot of people, and I don't know what the hell happened to Putin. I've known him for a long time, always got along with him, but he's sending missiles into cities and killing people, and I don't like that at all." Trump also said that against the backdrop of what is happening, he is "certainly" considering increasing sanctions pressure on Moscow.
Later, in a post on Truth Social, the US president characterized Putin's actions even more sharply: "He's completely out of his mind. I've always said he wants all of Ukraine, not just part of it, and that may turn out to be true. But if he does, it will lead to the fall of Russia."
The statements came amid a massive combined strike that Russia launched on Ukraine on the night of May 25. About 300 attack drones and nearly 70 missiles of various types, including ballistic missiles, were fired. 12 regions, including Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Odessa, Mykolayiv and others, were under attack. Thirteen people died.
The next night, May 26, Russia updated the record for the number of drones used, attacking Ukraine with 355 drones and nine missiles.
The Kremlin reacted with restraint to Trump's remarks. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov called the American leader's words a manifestation of "emotional overload." In his opinion, Trump's emotionality is related to the resumption of the negotiation process between Moscow and Kiev.