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Former President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands in Helsinki, Finland on July 16, 2018.
Former President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on July 16, 2018.Yuri Kadobnov/AFP via Getty Images
  • Donald Trump fit into an anti-West Kremlin narrative according to the filmmaker.

  • He said that Trump was not trying to destroy the Russian way of life.

  • Russia has waged an information war for the past decade.

A filmmaker who has extensively documented Russian propaganda said this week that former President Donald Trump fit into the Kremlin's anti-West narrative.

In an interview with The Washington Post, the director of the award-winning documentary "Our New President" said that he followed Trump's election in 2016 as depicted by Russia's state-linked media.

In the decade leading up to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Russians were fed the same message over and over again by Putin's government, according to The Post. He said that Trump fits neatly in Moscow's propaganda efforts because he could be portrayed as a leader who wasn't trying to destroy the Russian way of life.

The domestic backlash that Trump faced in the US, no matter the real reason, could be framed as being fueled by anti-Russia interests.

It has been waged so fully and skillfully that it has made a lot of what is happening now possible.

He said that the Russian media has been shadowboxing for years. When there is any kind of Putin aggressive action in Russia, a lot of people there don't see it as aggressive.

They see it as standing up for their way of life.

The New York Times reported that Trump and Putin met five times during his presidency, though details were handled secretively. During much of his presidency, Trump's dealings with Russia and openness toward Russian help attracted a lot of scrutiny.

Trump made a number of statements about Putin and Russia.

If he were still president, Trump said he would send nuclear subs to go up and down in Russia. He said in a speech to Republican donors that the US should bomb Russia because it has Chinese flags on its fighter jets.

Soon before the invasion, Trump praised Putin for sending his forces into Ukraine, calling the Russian leader "smart" and a "genius."

The original article is on Business Insider.

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