Anthony Scaramucci expressed concerns about his old boss Donald Trump and his “weird” relationship with Vladimir Putin on Friday.
Scaramucci, who briefly served as Trump’s White House communications director in 2017, discussed Trump’s approach to the Russian president during an episode of “The Rest Is Politics US” podcast with co-host Katty Kay.
Kay teased that the discussion would explore what leverage Russian Putin might have over Trump, and asked Scaramucci why he thinks Trump is now pinning the blame for the war on Ukraine.
“My silence is because what I really think is not in the mainstream,” Scaramucci replied. “And so what I really think, if I end up saying it on our podcast, people will say, OK, I’m being absurd. OK, so—but I think there’s a hold on him.”
Scaramucci did not elaborate on what he believes that “hold” might be, adding only: “I don’t know why it’s like this. [H.R.] McMaster couldn’t figure it out, [James] Mattis couldn’t figure it out, [John] Kelly couldn’t figure it out.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
A little over a month into his second term, Trump has done a 180 on Washington, D.C.’s stance on the three-year-old war in Ukraine. He has blamed Kyiv for starting the conflict, cast doubt on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s legitimacy, downplayed Russia’s war aims, and backtracked on U.S. support for Kyiv.
Tensions between Trump and Zelensky escalated further this week when Trump took to Truth Social, calling the Ukrainian leader a “dictator without elections.” He demanded wartime elections in Ukraine, despite the fact that martial law—imposed in response to Putin’s invasion—has prohibited them from taking place.
Scaramucci didn’t hold back—he called Trump’s relationship with Putin “weird” and blasted him for pushing Kremlin narratives.
“It’s the 30th day in, he’s literally reciting Putin talking points at press conferences,” said Scaramucci.
Kay asked Scaramucci if he and other officials would talk about Trump’s relationship with Russia during his first administration.
“Yes,” Scaramucci said. “Somebody last night from the former administration texted me. It’s weird the relationship with Putin. It’s just weird.“
“Let’s say let’s give President Trump the benefit of the doubt,” he went on. “You would say, OK, he’s obviously the American president. He can’t be in the tank for Vladimir Putin. But then as you know, from the KGB, they do everything out in the open, OK? So that’s part of their technique, right?”
Scaramucci also appeared to reference a Feb. 19 article by Alexander Dugin, a far-right Russian ideologue dubbed ‘Putin’s Brain’ for his supposed influence on the Russian leader, titled “Ukraine Talks Require New World Order Clarity.” In an overblown claim, Scaramucci suggested the piece all but states that Trump is under the control of Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
“Alexander Dugin, who is a very famous inside of Russia philosopher, he wrote a piece which I sent to you… he basically said that Lavrov is running Trump—Lavrov will be briefing Trump on what to do here to establish this new world order, which is a post-Soviet, but pro-Russian—Russia controls the Eastern European Theater,” said Scaramucci.
In the article, Dugin simply wrote: “It is worth noting the very serious, high level of our delegation [at talks between U.S. and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia]. These are Yuri Ushakov and Sergey Lavrov, Putin’s closest associates in international politics and completely, totally in agreement with [Trump]. And therefore, it is they who will help our president prepare for this meeting.”
In another piece, Dugin wrote that Lavrov had “for the first time objectively, calmly, and with reasoned arguments conveyed the Russian position to the Americans,” adding that such a feat was “a novelty, as there had been no negotiations previously, and Russia’s position in the U.S. was conveyed in a completely distorted form. Therefore, this is not just a breakthrough but a monumental one.”
Even Scaramucci second-guessed his own interpretation, asking Kay, “Am I being too aggressive by saying this?”
He added: “You gotta tell me… cause I don’t want people to say, oh, you know, he’s, he’s got Trump derangement… I don’t have Trump derangement syndrome. I have Trump reality syndrome. I’m just telling you what we all saw, what we’re all worried about.”
