In his new book Betrayal, journalist Luke Harding investigates the reasons behind Donald Trump's deference to Vladimir Putin, concluding that whether or not Trump qualifies as a formal Russian asset, his actions consistently align with Kremlin interests. The book, reviewed by historian Lawrence Freedman in the Guardian, has sparked international debate, with many social media users responding with a single word: “Duh!”
Harding, a former Guardian Moscow bureau chief, first explored this topic in his 2017 book Collusion, which detailed Moscow's decades-long operation to support and cultivate Trump. Despite Trump's denials of links to Russia, his second-term behavior toward Putin remains as perplexing as his first, exemplified by his conduct at the Alaska summit last year, where he applauded Putin, met him at Anchorage airport with a red carpet, and allowed him to speak first at a joint press conference.
Ideology, Strongman Envy, and Kompromat
Harding identifies overlapping reasons for Trump's submissive behavior. One factor is ideological: Trump's MAGA supporters view Russia as an “anti-woke” kindred state, with Putin positioning himself as a defender of conservative values against a decadent Europe. High-profile Trump supporters, including former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, have traveled to Moscow, with Carlson even praising the city's supermarkets.
Another explanation, advanced by former White House adviser Fiona Hill, is strongman envy. Trump reportedly admires Putin's freedom to make money and crush opponents, preferring the company of autocrats while disparaging European democrats like Keir Starmer and Giorgia Meloni.
A third theory is kompromat, the KGB term for compromising material. Declassified records show that Czechoslovakia's secret police spied on Trump in the 1970s, and he made multiple visits to Moscow, including a 1987 trip organized by a Soviet state agency and a 2013 visit for the Miss Universe pageant. Harding notes from his own Moscow experience (2007-2011) that Russian intelligence agencies are adept at surveillance, recalling that the FSB broke into his apartment and that the British embassy advised him it was bugged.
A 2020 US Senate intelligence committee report alleged that the FSB has secret cameras inside the Ritz-Carlton hotel, where Trump stayed in 2013. Harding writes, “There will be tapes. They may be innocuous. But Putin knows what they show, and Trump knows that Putin knows.”
Consequences for Ukraine
Harding argues that the terminology of whether Trump is an asset matters little. As chess champion Garry Kasparov noted, if Trump were an asset or agent of influence, what would he do differently? Since 2025, Trump has stopped direct US military aid to Kyiv, humiliated Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, and repeated Kremlin disinformation.
These actions have real consequences. Harding, who has reported from Ukraine for nearly two decades, describes how the conflict has evolved into a hi-tech aerial battle. Russia bombards Kyiv most nights with kamikaze drones and ballistic missiles, while Ukraine conducts long-range strikes and has developed an innovative drone industry. However, Kyiv lacks US-made Patriot interceptors, the only system capable of shooting down fast-moving ballistic missiles.
Trump refuses to send Patriots or allow Kyiv to develop its own version under license. As a result, civilians—families, elderly couples, teenagers—die entombed under ruined apartment blocks. Harding concludes, “Asset or not, Trump is doing little to make this horror stop.”
Betrayal: Trump, Putin and the New Age of Conquest is published in the UK by Guardian Faber.
