The maelstrom that followed Donald Trump’s return as US president in 2025 left many bemused and disoriented. But for Russia-watchers, what unfolded was grimly familiar. So much of what Trump and his inner circle have done is precisely what the Kremlin would have wanted them to do; and in too many respects, Trump’s America has started to mimic Russia itself.

For all the chaos of Trump’s first months back in the White House, one defining feature was common to all his destructive actions: the removal of the obstacles previously set up to prevent Russia from achieving its ambitions, whether they threatened Europe or America itself. The Trump administration’s determination to coerce Ukraine into surrendering to Russia is just the clearest example of how America is embracing Moscow’s objectives. And domestically, the war on facts and truth; the deployment of masked federal paramilitaries to the streets of major cities; the threats against neighbouring countries; the consolidation of power; and the favouring of a narrow circle of oligarchs all mirror Vladimir Putin’s Russia of twenty years before.

Keir Giles examines the transformation of America through the prism of Kremlinology. What he reveals is disturbing not just for Americans, but for us all.