Trump urges Russia to release dirt on Hunter Biden now that 'Putin is not exactly a fan of our country'

Former President Donald Trump appears to have given up on Ukraine releasing dirt on Hunter Biden, President Biden's sole living son — an effort that got him impeached (though not convicted) in 2019 after it emerged he was withholding U.S. military assistance to Ukraine to get such information.
So now he wants Russian President Vladimir Putin to unearth dirt on the Bidens. "I think Putin now would be willing to probably" release it, "as long as Putin is not exactly a fan of our country," he told John Solomon on Real America's Voice in an interview broadcast Tuesday. Putin is not "a fan" of the U.S. right now, of course, because the Biden administration is arming Ukraine in its unexpectedly strong defense against Putin's invasion.
Russian state TV, very likely trolling or baiting the U.S. media, is happy to oblige Trump. One host, Evgeny Popov, called for Russia to encourage "regime" change in the U.S. "and to again help our partner Trump to become president."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
And "last Thursday, Russia's Defense Ministry released a colorful diagram, purporting to demonstrate that President Joe Biden's son Hunter is secretly bankrolling the Pentagon's biolabs in Ukraine," Julia Davis reports at The Daily Beast. "The allegation was preposterous and was squeamishly avoided by the responsible mainstream media, but Tucker Carlson immediately latched on to it."
"Kremlin propagandists see the Hunter biolab material as just the right kind of toxic waste that can bury his father's chances of re-election in 2024," Davis writes. Carlson's and Trump's translated comments appear frequently on Russian state TV.
Hunter Biden is still under investigation for tax issues by a Delaware federal prosecutor President Biden declined to replace from the Trump administration, The Wall Street Journal reports. But Trump's claim that Elena Baturina, a wealthy Russian businesswoman married to late Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhvov gave Hunter Biden $3.5 million stems from a controversial Senate Republican report released in September 2020 that said Baturina paid a $3.5 million "consultancy" fee in 2014 to a firm called Rosemont Seneca Thornton, which may or may not have ties to Rosemont Seneca Advisors, a company Hunter Biden co-founded and led.
Hunter Biden denies having an stake in Rosemont Seneca Thornton, and "the GOP report does not support the allegation that Hunter Biden personally accepted money from Baturina," Politico reports. Curiously, "Trump himself sought to do business with Luzhkov's government in the late 1990s."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Ukraine: Trump's mixed messages
Feature Trump reverses a Pentagon freeze on Patriot missiles to Ukraine as Russia ramps up air attacks
-
Diddy: An abuser who escaped justice?
Feature The jury cleared Sean Combs of major charges but found him guilty of lesser offenses
-
Death from above: Drones upend rules of war in Ukraine
Feature The world's militaries are paying close attention to drone use in the Russia-Ukraine war
-
Ukraine: Trump's mixed messages
Feature Trump reverses a Pentagon freeze on Patriot missiles to Ukraine as Russia ramps up air attacks
-
Supreme Court: Ceding more power to Trump?
Feature SCOTUS has given Trump a victory by ending nationwide injunctions, limiting judges' power to block presidential orders
-
The Pam Bondi and Dan Bongino schism threatens Trump's DOJ
In the Spotlight Two MAGA partisans find themselves on either end of a growing scandal over Jeffrey Epstein and his ties to White House officials
-
Secret Service 'failures' on Trump shooting
Speed Read Two new reports detail security breakdowns that led to attempts on the president's life
-
Trump uses tariffs to upend Brazil's domestic politics
IN THE SPOTLIGHT By slapping a 50% tariff on Brazil for its criminal investigation into Bolsonaro, the Trump administration is brazenly putting its fingers on the scales of a key foreign election
-
'Trump's authoritarian manipulation of language'
Instant Opinion Vienna has become a 'convenient target for populists' | Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump set to hit Canada with 35% tariffs
Speed Read The president accused Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney of failing to stop the cross-border flow of fentanyl
-
Could Trump really 'take over' American cities?
Today's Big Question Trump has proposed a federal takeover of New York City and Washington, D.C.