Russian state TV host muses whether Putin should ‘reinstall Trump’

Russian state television propagandist Olga Skabeeva took aim at former president Donald Trump, implying the Russian government may think twice about mounting any campaign to support him should he choose to run in the 2024 presidential election.

Skabeeva made the remarks during a recent edition of her 60 Minutes political talk show, according to a clip with English translations posted to Twitter by Russian media analyst Julia Davis.

“The other day, Trump promised to destroy the Russian Federation, to destroy Putin’s hegemony, as he put it,” she said.

Another panellist, Russian political scientist Alexander Kamin, interjected by calling her report “great news” because Russia would know Mr Trump’s “geopolitical goals” if he returns to the White House in the future.

Skabeeva responded: “We will have to think whether to re-install him again as the American president. We haven't decided yet”.

It’s unclear what remarks by Mr Trump the Russian hosts were referring to, but since Mr Trump’s win in the 2016 election, Russian television personalities have often made reference to him as having been installed in the White House by Moscow.

Multiple US investigations have found that the Russian government mounted a significant campaign to interfere in the 2016 elections on his behalf, including by breaking into Democratic National Committee computers to steal emails between DNC staff and the staff of then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.