Russian state TV host Vladimir Solovyov said he likes Donald Trump ‘a lot’ as he is ‘destroying NATO’ – but warned the US president could launch a nuclear strike
Putin’s cronies have praised Donald Trump on Russian state TV – with one admitting “I like him a lot” while at the same time warning his behaviour could push the world closer to a nuclear war.
The remarks came during an exchange on the prime-time programme Sunday Evening with Vladimir Solovyov, who appeared alongside Director General of Mosfilm Karen Shakhnazarov and State Duma member Semyon Bagdasarov.
The TV host led the praise for Trump but suggested the US president’s unpredictability made nuclear escalation impossible to rule out. “No one can guarantee that America won’t carry out a nuclear strike against Iran,” he said.
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“I like him, I like Trump a lot,” Solovyov told the panel. “He is destroying NATO. It’s a harsh version of an American ‘perestroyka’ (restructuring).”
He added: “He won’t calm down until he destroys America, all of his allies and all of his alliances. Trump suddenly realised that weapons are coming to Iran from someplace.”
Solovyov’s comments came after Bagdasarov warned political turmoil in Israel had pushed the country into a “dead end”, arguing the situation was so volatile that talk of a possible nuclear strike against Iran could not be dismissed. “No one can guarantee it won’t happen,” he said.
Solovyov questioned whether the same nuclear risk could apply to the US under Trump, before insisting he “likes Trump a lot”.
Bagdasarov took a harsher line, describing Trump as a “crackpot” and saying “God only knows what’s going on in his head”, while arguing Israel was more likely than any other power to escalate towards nuclear action.
Last month, Soloyov warned of an “end times” nuclear war sparked by ongoing tensions in the Middle East.
“With what is happening in America it is clear that nuclear weapons will be used,” Solovyov told guests on his show. “Trump is already talking about it openly. I’ve been talking about it for several years. If we keep thinking ‘No, it isn’t possible,’ it won’t help us.
“The scariest thing that will happen is that Trump will use nuclear weapons and understand that this is not a cure-all,” he added. “The size of Iran as a country is such that regardless of what kind of nuclear weapons you use… afterwards Iran would respond and the last restriction will fall.”
