How Russia perceives Trump's victory in 2024 compared to 2016
By a quirkish coincidence, I have watched the U.S. presidential elections of both 2016 and 2024 from Russia, rather than from my normal perch in Brussels, Belgium. Accordingly when I was invited by the Indian global broadcaster WION to discuss on air this morning the Russian response to Donald Trump's latest victory at the polls, I opened my remarks with precisely the great difference between then and now as I have seen and heard firsthand.
I was in Moscow in November 2016 and was invited by RT's presenter Peter Lavelle to join him and two other guests in their studios for a live broadcast about the Trump victory. The mood was celebratory since we all expected a normalization of Russian-American relations after they had been severely damaged in the final months of the Obama presidency, not least by the illegal confiscation of Russian consular properties at year's end as an act of spite to for what Hilary Clinton and the Democratic Party chose to describe as the victory of the 'Russian candidate' in the elections. We uncorked the champagne and toasted what we all considered would be good times ahead.
Of course, that was not to be - for the reasons I set forth in the interview with WION.
This time I find myself in St Petersburg and my first opportunities to air my remarks following the news of Trump's victory came from Iran (Press TV, early this morning as part of a panel on three continents) and then from India.
Here in Russia, the mood today is guarded and there is very little news coverage of the American elections which in the run-up have been described by Russian state news and by the better talk shows as a travesty of democracy marked by vote stuffing and other rude abuses more typical of a banana republic than a mature and leading state power.
I note that whereas in 2016 Vladimir Putin was one of the very first to congratulate Trump on his victory, this time that fell to three fawning nonentities Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Ukraine), Emanuel Macron (France) and Keir Starmer (United Kingdom), all of whom are trying to salvage something after their their anti-Trump activities these past months.
For his part, Vladimir Putin this time has stood apart from other world leaders and pointedly not issued any congratulatory message to Trump. In the interview I explain why.