| Trump: The Kremlin Candidate? | |
|---|---|
 Title card image | |
| Directed by | Matthew Hill Tomiko Newson Nick Sturdee |
| Presented by | John Sweeney |
| Narrated by | John Sweeney |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producers | Andy Blackman Matthew Hill Tomiko Newson Nick Sturdee |
| Editors | Rachel Jupp Joe Marcus |
| Running time | 30 minutes[1] |
| Production company | Panorama |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One |
| Release | 16 January 2017 (2017-01-16) |
Trump: The Kremlin Candidate? is adocumentary film first broadcast by the programmePanorama onBBC One, and first aired in the United Kingdom on 16 January 2017, four days before thefirst inauguration of Donald Trump. It examinedlinks between Trump associates and Russian officials and the relationship betweenVladimir Putin andDonald Trump. It featuresinvestigative journalistJohn Sweeney, who journeyed toRussia,Ukraine,Lithuania, and the United States during the course of his research. Sweeney had prior experience on the subject matter, having interviewed Trump in 2013, and Putin in 2014. The film was directed by Matthew Hill, Tomiko Newson, and Nick Sturdee.
Throughout the documentary, Sweeney interviews intelligence and security analysts includingJohn E. McLaughlin andMalcolm Nance, individuals with prior ties to Putin such asAleksandr Dugin, Trump adviserRoger Stone and Russian politicianKonstantin Kosachev. The documentary analyzes potential damaging information about Trump from theSteele dossier, and assesses whetherRussian intelligence has blackmail in the form ofkompromat which they could use to manipulate him. The film describesRussian interference in the 2016 United States elections and discusses whether Russiancyberwarfare impacted the elections. Finally, the documentary posits how a potential fallout between Trump and Putin could impact worldwidenational security.
After the film's initial release, it was featured at theInternational Journalism Festival inPerugia, Italy, in April 2017.[2][3][4]The Guardian selected the documentary among "Monday's best TV",[5] andThe National featured it as "TV Pick of the Day".[6] TheTimes Union called the film's revelations, "shocking and alarming".[7] The documentary garnered an official response in the form of a critical statement from theRussian Embassy in London.[8]
Investigative journalistJohn Sweeney delves intolinks between Trump associates and Russian officials.[2] The documentary moves to different relevant locations including the United States, Russia, Lithuania, and armed conflict zones in Ukraine.[9][1] Sweeney investigates the potential relationship betweenDonald Trump andVladimir Putin.[9][1] The documentary looks into the likelihood thatcyberwarfare throughRussian interference in the 2016 United States elections helped elect Trump asPresident of the United States.[9][1]
Intelligence commentators interviewed in the film include:CrowdStrike chief technology officerDmitri Alperovitch, former actingCIA DirectorJohn E. McLaughlin, andThe Plot to Hack America authorMalcolm Nance.[10]
Those interviewed for historical context areBetween East and West authorAnne Applebaum, andNever Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success authorMichael D'Antonio.[10] Politicians and advisers interviewed include: Tsargrad TV editor-in-chiefAleksandr Dugin,UK Independence Party memberNigel Farage, formerPrime Minister of RussiaMikhail Kasyanov, Russian politicianKonstantin Kosachev, and Trump political adviserRoger Stone.[10] People appearing inarchive footage include:Steve Bannon,Michael Flynn, Vladimir Putin,Rex Tillerson, and Donald Trump.[10]
Sweeney interviews Putin political adviser Aleksandr Dugin inMoscow and debates with him about Russian government respect forcivil liberties.[11] Author Michael D'Antonio provides background on his assessment of Trump's character, telling Sweeney Trump views himself as asuperhero in acomic book.[12]
The film attempts to conclude if Trump may be able to be manipulated by Putin due to the possibility thatRussian intelligence may possess asex tape of Trump.[6] Sweeney examines what may befall Putin and Trump's nations were their warm ties to diminish over time.[9][1] The documentary attempts to examine how the relationship between Trump and Putin could impactnational security in Europe and globally.
Prior to his work on the documentary, Sweeney had previously interviewed both Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.[12] He was invited by Trump to meet with him in 2013 atTrump National Golf Club inBedminster, New Jersey.[12] During an interview the same week atTrump Tower, Sweeney asked Trump about his friendship with Russian-bornorganized crime-connected individualFelix Sater; Trump responded by calling Sweeney "thick" and abruptly leaving the interview.[12] Sweeney had interviewed Putin in 2014 in Siberia, and asked him about the downing ofMalaysia Airlines Flight 17.[12] Putin placed onus on Ukraine for the casualties, and Sweeney was blocked by Russian security from asking another question.[12]
During the course of production for the documentary,investigative journalist John Sweeney journeyed from the UK to the United States, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Russia.[5][1]
During Sweeney's interview with Putin political adviserAleksandr Dugin in Moscow, he queried Dugin on the views ofVladimir Putin with regards todemocratic ideals.[11] Dugin criticized Sweeney's question, asserting theWestern world had attempted to force democracy on other countries.[11] Sweeney brought upBoris Nemtsov, a critic of Putin who was shot and killed immediately exterior to theMoscow Kremlin, and asked Dugin how the killing of Nemtsov reflected on the democratic values of Russia.[11] Dugin countered, "If you are engaged in Wikileaks you can be murdered."[11] When Sweeney queried Dugin to name U.S. reporters who had perished at the hands of theObama administration, Dugin said it was a "completely stupid kind of conversation", ended the interview, and left the area.[11]
The documentary first aired on the programmePanorama onBBC One in the United Kingdom on 16 January 2017, four days before theInauguration of Donald Trump.[11][5][9] The program was made available onBBC iPlayer the same month.[12] It was screened inPerugia, Italy on 6 April 2017 at theInternational Journalism Festival.[2][3][4] Investigative journalists John Sweeney of the UK andAndrei Soldatov of Russia were in attendance at the screening.[2][13][14]
The Guardian reviewer Ali Catterall wrote that the program was among "Monday's best TV".[5] Catterall wrote, "John Sweeney travels to Russia, Ukraine and the US to investigate the most laughably open secret of recent times – the Kremlin's marionette-like manipulation of American politics – and ponders that the only thing scarier than Trump and Putin's friendship will be their falling out."[5]Radio Times reporter Jack Seale reviewed the documentary, writing, "Ahead of Friday's inauguration, John Sweeney's Panorama report focuses on Trump's admiration for Vladimir Putin, a trait that sailed close to treason over the festive period when the President-elect sided with Russia in a diplomatic row with the US."[9] Seale pointed out the question posed by the documentary about the potential relationship between Trump and Putin, "What, Sweeney wonders, will happen when these two eerily similar hotheads inevitably fall out?"[9]
The National journalist Julie McDowall selected the documentary as "TV Pick of the Day".[6] McDowall commented, "maybe we are about to see a US president, the most powerful man in the world, who could be cowed and ordered about by an aggressive Russia just because it apparently has a sex tape on him."[6] Regarding the quality of Trump-Putin interactions, McDowall wrote, that the documentary "examines the relationship and asks if it is better for all if the two are buddies. If they fall out it could produce fall-out."[6]Times Union contributor Lawrence White wrote, "John Sweeney investigates the Trump-Putin connection and what it may mean for the world's collective well being."[7] White commented, "The details in the investigative report are shocking and alarming."[7]
On 17 January 2017, theRussian Embassy in London issued a statement critical of the documentary, where they called it, "another low in outright post-truth propaganda in the defense of the unsustainable status quo in Britain, US and worldwide."[8]
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