Russia–U.S.A 2025: Why the Russian Elite Courts Trump

Khoshnaw Rahmani, Jadetimes Staff

K. Rahmani is a Jadetimes news reporter covering politics.

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Image Source: SCMP

A pronounced outreach from segments of Russia’s ruling class toward Donald Trump has become a prominent theme in 2025 politics. Russian officials, business figures, and opinion-makers are publicly and privately signalling a readiness to reset relations with Washington, portraying closer ties with Trump as a route to economic relief, geopolitical leverage, and domestic legitimacy.

Political incentives for courtship

Russia’s elite view Trump as a potential gateway to reduced pressure from Western sanctions and renewed access to markets and capital. For many in Moscow the immediate payoff is pragmatic: eased financial constraints for state-linked businesses and the prospect of loosening barriers that have choked investment and imports since 2014 and especially after 2022. Messaging directed at Trump often emphasizes deal-making opportunities—energy, Arctic development, and technological partnerships—that can be framed as mutually beneficial commercial projectsCarnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Strategic signaling inside Kremlin circles

Beyond material incentives, outreach to Trump serves a reputational and bargaining purpose within Russia’s domestic power structure. Proposals and public compliments aimed at the U.S. president are frequently calibrated less for Washington than for Vladimir Putin and other domestic audiences: they demonstrate that Kremlin-aligned actors can present options and initiatives that might secure a high-profile diplomatic achievement, thereby strengthening their standing at home.

Ideological and cultural affinities

A softer but consequential driver is ideological affinity. Elements of Russia’s establishment perceive Trump-style nationalism, anti-globalist rhetoric, and transactional diplomacy as compatible with their own political outlooks. This convergence makes overtures less awkward and easier to market domestically, transforming external courtship into an internally intelligible strategy for maintaining influence and control.

Risks and ambivalence among elites

Courtship of Trump is not unanimous. Some business and policy circles worry about overreliance on a single foreign patron, the unpredictability of U.S. politics, and potential domestic political costs if perceived as capitulation to an American leader with a polarizing global image. Propaganda organs and state communicators also struggle to reconcile celebratory messaging with narratives that portray Western states as hostile—creating incoherence in public-facing rhetoric.

The Russian elite’s enthusiasm for cozying up to Trump is a blend of transactional calculation, domestic signalling, and ideological consonance. It reflects a strategic gamble: the potential material and reputational gains are large, but so are the political and reputational hazards. How Washington responds—and whether tangible deals follow—will determine whether this cohort’s outreach translates into long-term realignment or a temporary diplomatic theater