Russian state media has reportedly been ordered to stop fawning over President Trump, after a series of events that include the ouster of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Trump's unprecedented tweet saying something slightly negative about Moscow. Russia's news media "won't pour buckets of criticism on Trump, they just won't talk about him much," Konstantin von Eggert, a political analyst for Russia's only independent TV channel, told Bloomberg Politics. But Friday's newspapers in Russia seem to have at least reached for cups of criticism, says BBC News Moscow correspondent Steve Rosenberg, who read some of the days headlines.
Pravda, for example, criticized the contradictory remarks Trump has made about NATO, moving from "obsolete and useless" during the campaign to fully supportive today. "'As the saying goes,' the paper says, 'you need to be drunk to understand the true position of the U.S. president," Rosenberg read. Moskovsy Komsomolets asks, "Has Trump changed his mind about improving relations with Russia?" Vedomosti gives Trump the benefit of the doubt, blaming the "pressure that Trump is coming under in America over alleged links with Russia" for his inability to offer any concessions to Moscow right away.
If the Russian papers go too negative, of course, Trump can just dismiss them as "fake news" — bookmark the phrase "poddel'nyye novosti," just in case.
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.
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
