The Russia media's coverage of the tumultuous first few weeks of President Donald Trump's administration signals an extension of what they were trying to do by meddling in the election — undermine America's political system, an expert told Politico.
"The Russian government is savoring the severe damage to America's international image a result of the tumultuous first weeks of the Trump administration's tenure," Andrew Weiss, a former Clinton White House National Security Council official for Russian affairs told Politico.
Casting Trump in a bad light post-election serves the ultimate purpose, Weiss told Politico.
Some of the recent headlines in Russian-backed media, according to Politico:
- Sessions Scandal: 'U.S Headed to Constitutional Crisis'
- America is in the grips of hatred
- Are Trump's policies dividing America more than ever?
All of which seem surprising given Trump's positive remarks publicly about Russian President Vladimir Putin, before the election and afterward.
"There was a lot of hype in the U.S. media about the relationship, about the bromance. I don't know where people got that from," Dmitri Trenin of the Carnegie Institute in Moscow told CNN.
"What Russia wanted from the US ideally would have amounted to a foreign policy revolution in the US — something not to be had."
Meanwhile, the Russian-backed media clamored for Trump to be a disruptor.
"The original Russian state-controlled media fixation on Trump was that he was this destroying angel who would damage the established monopoly of two leading US political parties and lead a crusade against 'bankrupt' American elites," Weiss told Politico.