The News Agents - USA Is Trump a Russian asset? Fiona Hill on the President she worked for
23 snips
Apr 29, 2026 
Fiona Hill, former senior US national intelligence official who advised on Russia policy and testified in 2019, joins to unpack geopolitics. She discusses US–Israel ties and shifting Middle East priorities. She explores Trump’s rapport with Putin and other strongmen, how praise and disinformation give foreign leverage, and why traditional White House restraints feel weaker now.
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First Term Checks Are Gone In Trump's Second Term
- Early Constraints On Trump Have Eroded In Second Term.
- Hill notes first-term checks and pushback limited him, but in the second term he has become emboldened and less constrained by advisers and institutions.
Trump Craves Praise From Authoritarian Leaders
- Trump Seeks Admiration From Strongmen Over Democracies.
- Fiona Hill describes Trump craving Putin and Xi's respect, treating them as apex figures and basking in reflected glory rather than valuing democratic peers.
Flattery Is Putin's Primary Lever Over Trump
- Putin Buys Influence With Flattery Not Necessarily Compromise.
- Hill argues Putin cultivates Trump with selective praise and aloofness, making Trump hungry for approval and therefore malleable without obvious kompromat.