The Kremlin’s chief propagandist could hardly contain his excitement during his Tuesday show, The Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, reveling in U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest flurry of imperial aspirations and destructive moves against Western alliances.
Decorated state TV host Vladimir Solovyov danced, pranced, and praised Russia’s beloved “Trumpushka,” a man he has previously described as “our agent Trump.”
“I told you there’s never been any presidents like this in America,” he proclaimed at the start of the show. “No one in the history of America ever pulled off anything like this, none of the other American presidents. U.S. allies of 50 years were told, ‘Know your place, mice.’” He added, “It was openly asserted, ‘Russia is not the enemy.’ The last time Americans said that Russia is not their enemy was in the 19th century... Now they say the EU and international corporations are their enemies... Everything is coming apart at the seams!”
Solovyov’s giddiness came after Trump, amid a frenzied push to seize control of Danish-owned Greenland, lashed out at longtime allies and promoted a claim on social media of NATO posing a bigger threat to the West than Russia or China. “Well done, Trumpushka! Trumpushka is doing everything right,” Solovyov gushed.
He suggested the rift between the U.S. and its allies is so great that Russia and America might end up jointly bombing London at some point in the future. Solovyov noted, “It’s amusing to see how NATO is dissolving itself.”
Solovyov had good reason to gloat after predicting a great deal of what is unfolding right now last March. At that time, he described Trump as Russia’s “situational ally” and said, “I will watch Trump going to war with Europe—it will give me great pleasure. Here is how it will go: the annexation of Greenland, the disintegration of NATO, the destruction of the European Union that Trump will no longer recognize, and the economic war between America and Europe.”
He added, “Trump will say, ‘I have nothing against Russia. The liberal democratic bastards have maligned Russia the same way they’ve maligned me... Russia says that it wants to return the lands that were taken by the Ukro-Nazis, and I’m saying the same thing. I need Greenland, because it suits our national interests. What’s the problem? The inviolability of borders? Are you joking?’”
This remarkable foresight was likely fueled by insider knowledge, not clairvoyance. After all, Solovyov received state awards directly from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is said to regularly watch the top propagandist’s shows on state television. Kremlin officials are openly goading and encouraging Trump to pursue his expansionist goals, and similar efforts were likely unfolding behind-the-scenes even before the U.S. president chaotically thrust his agenda into the spotlight. Speaking at an annual press conference on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov compared Trump’s push for Greenland with Russia’s annexation of Crimea, saying: “Crimea is no less important for the Russian Federation than Greenland is for the United States.”
It is perhaps fitting that State Duma deputy Andrey Lugovoy, implicated by the U.K. in the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, joined Solovyov on his show to triumphantly proclaim, “There is no Davos forum anymore, this is now the Donald Trump forum.”
Solovyov chimed in with a nod to Trump’s treasury secretary’s advice for Europe to “let things play out,” although the TV host put a crude spin on it: “[Scott] Bessent said it well, ‘Have a seat, relax and exhale. Europeans, you’re being raped. Sit back and relax.”
Lugovoy replied, “Europe is experiencing a humiliation on a global scale,” prompting a triumphant cackle from Solovyov, who pondered, “Will NATO even remain after this? Heh-heh-heh.”
Mocking Sweden and Finland for joining NATO, he asked, “What will they do when NATO falls apart and they realize they joined a dying union?” Solovyov confidently asserted that Russia can strike any part of Europe and Americans won’t retaliate. He suggested targeting military factories in Denmark, Britain, Germany and Poland.
“By the way, we should discuss striking Denmark with Trump, to see how he likes this idea,” he added.
Solovyov was still in a state of euphoria during his morning radio show Full Contact on Wednesday, urging his listeners to stock up on sunflower seeds or popcorn. “It’s awesome, right? It’s simply amazing,” he said. “All of them within the NATO bloc are fighting with one another... They want us to react to this somehow? We will applaud.” He went on to say, “It’s tremendous. Without a shadow of a doubt, NATO as we knew it is dead.”
Analysts on the other shows were similarly elated. Appearing on the TV show One’s Own Truth last week, political scientist Sergey Stankevich exclaimed, “Americans are delivering a catastrophic blow to NATO.” Host Roman Babayan agreed and surmised, “For Russia, this is truly tremendous.”
