- cross-posted to:
- world@quokk.au
- cross-posted to:
- world@quokk.au
Since returning to the White House in January, President Trump has dismantled the American government’s efforts to combat foreign disinformation. The problem is that Russia has not stopped spreading it.
How much that matters can now be seen in Moldova, a small but strategic European nation that has since the end of the Cold War looked to Europe and the United States to extract itself from Moscow’s shadow.
The Trump administration has slashed diplomatic and financial support for the country’s fight against Russian influence, even as the Kremlin has conducted what researchers and European officials described as an intense campaign to sway that country’s parliamentary elections, scheduled for Sept. 28.
The outcome in Moldova will be an early measure of the Trump administration’s push to dismantle American efforts to promote democracy since the end of the Cold War. In addition to cutting foreign assistance, the administration has decimated other instruments of American influence, like Radio Free Europe and Voice of America, that were central to the geopolitical struggle with the Soviet Union.
When the Trump administration slashed American foreign aid this year, the impact fell particularly hard on Moldova, a poor country with a population of 2.4 million. Among the cuts was $22 million meant to strengthen Moldova’s “inclusive and participatory political process.” Another slashed $32 million from what Mr. Trump, in a speech to Congress, called “a left-wing propaganda operation,” which included support for independent media in the country.
The Trump administration’s vilification of American support played into the Russians’ hands, fueling propaganda that the assistance had, in fact, been its own kind of interference.
Although Mr. Trump has repeatedly dismissed Russian election interference as a hoax, the Kremlin’s covert influence operations have been well documented — including in last year’s American presidential election and in votes this year in Germany, Poland and Romania.
Steven Lee Myers regularly reports on Russian disinformation campaigns and efforts to counter them.
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