''Trump: The Kremlin Candidate?'' is a

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

first broadcast by the program ''

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...

'' on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

, and first aired in the United Kingdom on 16 January 2017, four days before the

Inauguration of Donald Trump The inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States marked the commencement of Donald Trump's term as president and Mike Pence as vice president. An estimated 300,000 to 600,000 people attended the public ceremony hel ...

. It examined

links between Trump associates and Russian officials Since Donald Trump was a 2016 candidate for the office of President of the United States, numerous links between Trump associates and Russian officials and spies have been discovered by the FBI, Special counsel, and several United States congr ...

and the relationship between

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

and

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

. It features

investigative journalist Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...

John Sweeney, who journeyed to

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. 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 including John E. McLaughlin and

Malcolm Nance Malcolm Wrightson Nance (born September 20, 1961) is an American author and media pundit. He is a former United States Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer specializing in naval cryptology. Nance is an intelligence and foreign policy analyst who fr ...

, individuals with prior ties to Putin such as

Aleksandr Dugin Aleksandr Gelyevich Dugin ( rus, Александр Гельевич Дугин; born 7 January 1962) is a Russian political philosopher, analyst, and strategist, who has been widely characterized as a fascist. Born into a military intelligen ...

, Trump adviser

Roger Stone Roger Jason Stone (born Roger Joseph Stone Jr.; August 27, 1952) is an American conservative political consultant and lobbyist. Since the 1970s, Stone has worked on the campaigns of Republican politicians, including Richard Nixon, Ronald Rea ...

and Russian politician

Konstantin Kosachev Konstantin Iosifovich Kosachev (russian: Константин Иосифович Косачев; born 17 September 1962) is a Soviet and Russian politician and former diplomat. He is a senator at the Federation Council (Russian parliament's upper ...

. The documentary analyzes potential damaging information about Trump from the

Steele dossier The Steele dossier, also known as the Trump–Russia dossier, is a controversial political opposition research report written from June to December 2016, containing allegations of misconduct, conspiracy, and cooperation between Donald Trum ...

, and assesses whether

Russian intelligence The Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation ( rus, Служба внешней разведки Российской Федерации, r=Sluzhba vneshney razvedki Rossiyskoy Federatsii , p=ˈsluʐbə ˈvnʲɛʂnʲɪj rɐˈzvʲɛ ...

has blackmail in the form of ''

kompromat (russian: links=no, компромат, short for "compromising material") is damaging information about a politician, a businessperson, or other public figure, which may be used to create negative publicity, as well as for blackmail, often to ...

'' which they could use to manipulate him. The film describes

Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections The Russian government interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election with the goals of harming the campaign of Hillary Clinton, boosting the candidacy of Donald Trump, and increasing political and social discord in the United States. Acc ...

and discusses whether Russian

cyberwarfare Cyberwarfare is the use of cyber attacks against an enemy state, causing comparable harm to actual warfare and/or disrupting vital computer systems. Some intended outcomes could be espionage, sabotage, propaganda, manipulation or economic war ...

impacted the elections. Finally, the documentary posits how a potential fallout between Trump and Putin could impact worldwide

national security National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military atta ...

. After the film's initial release, it was featured at the

International Journalism Festival The International Journalism Festival is a journalism event annually held in Perugia, Italy (in central Italy, about 100 miles, or 160 km, north of Rome). The 2020 Festival will be held April 1-5, 2020. The International Journalism Fes ...

Perugia, Italy Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...

, in April 2017. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' selected the documentary among "Monday's best TV", and '' The National'' featured it as "TV Pick of the Day". The '' Times Union'' called the film's revelations, "shocking and alarming". The documentary garnered an official response in the form of a critical statement from the

Russian Embassy in London The Embassy of Russia in London is the diplomatic mission of Russia in the United Kingdom. The main building and Consular section is located at 5 and 6-7 Kensington Palace Gardens at the junction with Bayswater Road; the Ambassador's Residence ...

Contents summary

Investigative journalist John Sweeney delves into

. The documentary moves to different relevant locations including the United States, Russia, Lithuania, and armed conflict zones in Ukraine. Sweeney investigates the potential relationship between

and

. The documentary looks into the likelihood that

through

helped elect Trump as

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

. Intelligence commentators interviewed in the film include:

CrowdStrike CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. is an American cybersecurity technology company based in Austin, Texas. It provides cloud workload and endpoint security, threat intelligence, and cyberattack response services. The company has been involved in inves ...

chief technology officer

Dmitri Alperovitch Dmitri Mikhailovich Alperovitch (born 1980) is a Soviet-born American think-tank founder, investor, philanthropist, podcast host and former computer security industry executive. He is the chairman of Silverado Policy Accelerator, a geopolitics th ...

, former acting

CIA Director The director of the Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA) is a statutory office () that functions as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, which in turn is a part of the United States Intelligence Community. Beginning February 2017, the D ...

John E. McLaughlin, and '' The Plot to Hack America'' author

. Those interviewed for historical context are ''Between East and West'' author

Anne Applebaum Anne Elizabeth Applebaum (born July 25, 1964) is an American journalist and historian. She has written extensively about the history of Communism and the development of civil society in Central and Eastern Europe. She has worked at ''The Econo ...

, and ''Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success'' author

Michael D'Antonio Michael D'Antonio (born May 11, 1955) is an American author, journalist, and commentator on CNN. He shared the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting with a team of ''Newsday'' reporters for their coverage of the Baby Jane Doe Case. He has writt ...

. Politicians and advisers interviewed include: Tsargrad TV editor-in-chief

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...

member

Nigel Farage Nigel Paul Farage (; born 3 April 1964) is a British broadcaster and former politician who was List of UK Independence Party leaders, Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016 and Brexit Party#Leaders, Lea ...

, former

Prime Minister of Russia The chairman of the government of the Russian Federation, also informally known as the prime minister, is the nominal head of government of Russia. Although the post dates back to 1905, its current form was established on 12 December 1993 fo ...

Mikhail Kasyanov Mikhail Mikhailovich Kasyanov ( rus, link=no, Михаи́л Миха́йлович Касья́нов, , mʲɪxɐˈil mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ kɐˈsʲjanəf; born 8 December 1957) is a Russian politician who served as Prime Minister of Russia fr ...

, Russian politician

, and Trump political adviser

. People appearing in

archive footage Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures, and file footage is film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers as it saves shooting new material. A single piece of stock ...

include:

Steve Bannon Stephen Kevin Bannon (born November 27, 1953) is an American media executive, political strategist, and former investment banker. He served as the White House's chief strategist in the administration of U.S. president Donald Trump during t ...

Michael Flynn Michael Thomas Flynn (born December 24, 1958) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general and conspiracy theorist who was the 24th U.S. National Security Advisor for the first 22 days of the Trump administration. He resigned in light of ...

, Vladimir Putin,

Rex Tillerson Rex Wayne Tillerson (born March 23, 1952) is an American engineer and energy executive who served as the 69th U.S. secretary of state from February 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018, under President Donald Trump. Prior to joining the Trump administ ...

, and Donald Trump. Sweeney interviews Putin political adviser Aleksandr Dugin in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and debates with him about Russian government respect for

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...

. Author Michael D'Antonio provides background on his assessment of Trump's character, telling Sweeney Trump views himself as a

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

in a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

. The film attempts to conclude if Trump may be able to be manipulated by Putin due to the possibility that

may possess a

sex tape Amateur pornography is a category of pornography that features models, actors or non-professionals performing without pay, or actors for whom this material is not their only paid modeling work. Reality pornography is made porn that seeks to e ...

of Trump. Sweeney examines what may befall Putin and Trump's nations were their warm ties to diminish over time. The documentary attempts to examine how the relationship between Trump and Putin could impact

in Europe and globally.

Production

Prior to his work on the documentary, Sweeney had previously interviewed both Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. He was invited by Trump to meet with him in 2013 at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. During an interview the same week at

Trump Tower Trump Tower is a 58-story, mixed-use skyscraper at 721–725 Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, between East 56th and 57th Streets. The building contains the headquarters for the Trump Organization, as well ...

, Sweeney asked Trump about his friendship with Russian-born

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

-connected individual

Felix Sater Felix Henry Sater (born Felix Mikhailovich Sheferovsky; russian: Фе́ликс Миха́йлович Шеферовский; March 2, 1966) is a Russian-American mobster, convicted felon, real estate developer and former managing director of ...

; Trump responded by calling Sweeney "thick" and abruptly leaving the interview. Sweeney had interviewed Putin in 2014 in Siberia, and asked him about the downing of

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17/MAS17) was a scheduled passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was shot down by Russian forces on 17 July 2014, while flying over eastern Ukraine. All 283 passengers and 15 crew were killed. Cont ...

. Putin placed onus on Ukraine for the casualties, and Sweeney was blocked by Russian security from asking another question. During the course of production for the documentary,

John Sweeney journeyed from the UK to the United States, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Russia. The documentary was directed by Matthew Hill, Tomiko Newson, and Nick Sturdee. It was produced by Andy Blackman, Matthew Hill, Diana Martin, Tomiko Newson, and Nick Sturdee.

Film editing Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film stock, film which increasingly involves the use Digital cinema, of digital ...

was done by Rachell Jupp and Joe Marcus. The documentary's runtime is 30 minutes in duration. During Sweeney's interview with Putin political adviser

in Moscow, he queried Dugin on the views of

with regards to

democratic ideals Democratic ideals is an expression used to refer to personal qualities or standards of government behavior that are felt to be essential for the continuation of a democratic policy. In the 20th century, T. H. Marshall proposed what he believed to ...

. Dugin criticized Sweeney's question, asserting the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and state (polity), states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

had attempted to force democracy on other countries. Sweeney brought up

Boris Nemtsov Boris Yefimovich Nemtsov ( rus, Бори́с Ефи́мович Немцо́в, p=bɐˈrʲis jɪˈfʲiməvʲɪtɕ nʲɪmˈtsof; 9 October 195927 February 2015) was a Russian physicist and liberal politician. He was involved in the introduction ...

, a critic of Putin who was shot and killed immediately exterior to the

Moscow Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (R ...

, and asked Dugin how the killing of Nemtsov reflected on the democratic values of Russia. Dugin countered, "If you are engaged in Wikileaks you can be murdered." When Sweeney queried Dugin to name U.S. reporters who had perished at the hands of the

Obama Administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...

, Dugin said it was a "completely stupid kind of conversation", ended the interview, and left the area.

Release and reception

The documentary first aired on the program ''

'' on

in the United Kingdom on 16 January 2017, four days before the

. The program was made available on

BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services del ...

the same month. It was screened in

on 6 April 2017 at the

. Investigative journalists John Sweeney of the UK and

Andrei Soldatov Andrei Alekseyevich Soldatov (russian: Андрей Алексеевич Солдатов, born 4 October 1975 in Moscow, Russia) is a Russian investigative journalist and Russian security services expert. Together with fellow journalist Irina B ...

of Russia were in attendance at the screening. ''

'' reviewer Ali Catterall wrote that the program was among "Monday's best TV". 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." ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'' 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." 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?" '' The National'' journalist Julie McDowall selected the documentary as "TV Pick of the Day". 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." 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." '' 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." White commented, "The details in the investigative report are shocking and alarming." On 17 January 2017, the

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."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trump The Kremlin Candidate Conspiracy theories in the United States 2017 television specials Panorama (British TV programme) Documentary films about Donald Trump Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections Films about the Trump presidency Works about computer hacking

Contents summary

Production

Release and reception

See also

References

Further reading

External links