The Ben Mulroney Show - Is Donald Trump looking to align himself with Vladimir Putin?

Episode Date: March 19, 2025

Guests and Topics: -Is Donald Trump looking to align himself with Vladimir Putin?  Guest: Marcus Kolga, Senior Fellow MacDonald Laurier institute and Founder of disinfowatch Guest: Adam Zivo, National Post columnist and Executive Director for the Centre For Responsible Drug Policy If you enjoyed the podcast, tell a friend! For more of the Ben Mulroney Show, subscribe to the podcast! https://globalnews.ca/national/program/the-ben-mulroney-show Follow Ben on Twitter/X at https://x.com/BenMulroney Enjoy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We've been spending the day focusing on his choice words for, as he calls him, Governor Trudeau and liberals versus conservatives, but they took a broader view of the globe. And we know he doesn't like Canadians, he doesn't like the leadership in Canada. He's got very negative things to say. But here's how he he sees his relationships with Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un. Actually said to me, if you're my friend, I'd hate to see you as my enemy. He said that very strongly. But I had, with all of that, I had a very good relationship with Putin. I had a very good relationship with President Xi, a very good relationship with Kim Jong-un

of North Korea. Lots of good relationships. And that's a positive thing. That's not a negative thing. All right. Here to discuss that as well as what's going on between the United States, Russia and Ukraine. We're joined by two people with far more knowledge

on the subject than I, Marcus Kolga, senior fellow of McDonald's Laurier Institute and founder of Disinfo Watch and Adam Zivow, national post columnist, as well as the executive director for the Center for Responsible Drug Policy. To both of you, I say hi. Good morning. Thanks for having me on the show.

Marcus, let's, when you hear Donald Trump referencing friendships with Putin, Xi and Kim Jong-un, what does that say to you about his worldview? Well, I mean, it's jarring. I mean, I think that we've spent the past century looking to the United States to be a defender of democratic values, of human rights, and also as a strong ally of Canada. When he says things like that, that he sees Putin and Xi and Kim as his friends and his allies, it's utterly shocking. And I think that it's an indicator of where Donald Trump is clearly taking the United States,

but also a deeply concerning indicator of where the world is headed. Look, I was listening to Russian state media and sort of the Russian reaction to the Trump-Putin phone call yesterday. Alexander Dugin, who is known as Vladimir Putin's sort of philosophical guru, neo-fascist or even a neo-Nazi, as you might call him. And he said very clearly, there's a question about where he sees Donald Trump's current alignment. And Dugan said, Donald Trump is clearly aligning with Vladimir Putin's worldview and has abandoned what traditional Western liberal democratic worldview. So the Russians are recognizing it. We need to start recognizing this as well. Adam Zivov, I want to turn our attention

to the readout of President Trump's call that he had with Vladimir Putin. Specifically, and they talk about the need for peace in Ukraine and the possibility of good faith peace efforts and a ceasefire. But at the end of it is where I want to draw our attention. The two leaders agreed that a future with an improved bilateral relationship

between the United States and Russia has huge upside. This includes enormous economic deals and geopolitical stability when peace has been achieved. Now, Adam, everyone wants geopolitical stability, but if this dynamic of friendship between Russia, who is no friend to the West, and the United States who is accepting them, like a good faith acceptance that they have suddenly become that, what does that say for this geopolitical stability that they're claiming they both want? Well, I don't think there is going to be any

geopolitical stability from a rapprochement between the United States and Russia. I think that Trump is being played for a fool. And I think that he underestimates Russia's ambition in the world. Let's not forget that Russia and China have for decades yearned to overthrow American hegemony. They are actively challenging

the international rules based order because they correctly perceive that it that it's to the United States advantage to have this system in place. Right? So they're trying to dismantle these international institutions. They're trying to reduce the use of the American dollar as an international reserve currency. They are not friends with the United States at all. And that was even illustrated yesterday where Putin blatantly disrespected Trump by being over an hour late to their scheduled phone call. Let's not forget that this phone call was very high stakes.

He joked about it publicly to an audience of oligarchs. So how is it that Trump can tolerate this disrespect and still imagine that Putin respects him? Now, when it comes to the potential economic benefits to the United States, I don't see any. Russia's economy is what, one-tenth the size of the US economy or that of the EU, and they're not complimentary.

So Russia predominantly exports oil, gas, and weapons, and those are all things that the United States already has an abundance of Which is why you see a close relationship between China and Russia which are symbiotic and why they benefit from International trade but you can't recreate that. Yeah between the states in Russia So I've got to ask Marcus. What are the intelligence agencies in the United States? Feeding to Donald Trump if what's coming out of his mouth is things like this.

I mean, surely there are people within the intelligence apparatus who are giving him the straight goods on who Vladimir Putin is, what his motivations are, what fingers, what pies he's got fingers in and why all of those things work against the interests of the United States. I mean, wouldn't that, that seems as plain as the nose on my face.

But clearly he's getting something that is turning it in so that what he says is stuff like this. Yeah, look, I would imagine that the U.S. intelligence apparatus understands completely who Vladimir Putin is and is probably producing reports that indicate that. But that's not what Donald Trump is necessarily reading. He is getting his information filtered through individuals who he has placed into positions of power to create those briefings for him. It's entirely possible someone like Tulsi Gabbard, who's known to

be very closely aligned in her worldview with foreign authoritarians, including Vladimir Putin, this is someone who's really ultimately responsible in briefing the president. So if that intelligence is being filtered through someone like that, you can be sure that I think Donald Trump is receiving an alternative version of what's happening in the world and who Vladimir Putin is compared to the truth. So, you know, and we also know that he's influenced by all sorts of illiberal populist influencers in the United States. So he may be getting his information from those individuals, and that's clearly painting his world. Adam Zivov, are we at a point now where Ukraine's president Zelensky is just shaking his head

saying I guess I have to, I'm going to have to sign something with these guys because they're ganging up on me and there's no change in their mind. They've created this wall that I can't seem to get around. Put yourself in the head of Vladimir Zelensky today as they talk about ceasefires and potential peace deals. Well, I think it depends on what kind of ceasefire and peace deal is presented to Ukraine. So if this ceasefire sets up Ukraine for a military defeat in the future, for example, by prohibiting Ukraine from receiving intelligence and further munitions, or prohibiting the future training of soldiers, by prohibiting Ukraine from receiving intelligence and further munitions

or prohibiting the future training of soldiers, something that, you know, would essentially allow Russia to increase its power while Ukraine just treads water. I think that there is no obligation for Zelensky to accept that kind of deal. And there's no obligation for Zelensky to accept the deal where he seeds huge swaths of territory, including, for example, Odessa blast and gives the Russians, you know, a bridgehead across the Neapro River. So if those kinds of deals are presented to Ukraine, Zelensky can always say no and gamble on continuing the war using just European support.

From my understanding, Ukraine produced about 30% of its military needs right now. Europe produces about 30 to 40%. And the United States produces about one third. So it's possible to survive without accepting a bad peace deal. Marcus Colga and Adam Zivow, I wish we had more time. We have barely scratched the surface. I really wanted to get your take on Trump and Putin apparently discussing a US Russia hockey series.

But that'll have to wait till the next conversation. I hope that happens soon. Thank you to the both of you. Thanks for having us. I mean, yes. Canada's the enemy, Russia's the friend. We are, in fact, living in the upside down. There's no limit to how far criminals will go to cover their tracks.

But investigators will go even further to uncover the truth. I'm Nancy Hicks, a senior crime reporter for Global News. This season on Crime Beat, I'll take you from the crime scene to the courtroom and inside some of Canada's most high-profile cases and some you've likely never heard of before. Search for and listen to Crime Beat on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.