A bunch of far-right influencers and allies of President Donald Trump, including the man steering his controversial ballroom project, schlepped to Russia this week for a Kremlin-backed conference on the Russian economy.
Trump and the MAGA movement’s Russophilic tendencies have been in focus for the last decade. Ties between Trump’s inner circle and Russia’s government in 2016 were confirmed by federal investigations that determined members of Trump’s campaign sought, and ultimately received, Russia’s help in winning the 2016 presidential election. And Trump’s withholding of congressionally authorized military aid to Ukraine during his first term, which led to his first impeachment, underscored the ways in which his personal politics have aligned with Russian interests. More recently, a federal indictment in 2024 alleged several MAGA influencers were conscripted into a Russian-backed scheme to sow political dissension and promote pro-Kremlin talking points to American audiences.
So it may not come as a surprise that several prominent MAGA figures appeared this week at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, an event some have called Russia’s answer to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. But it marks yet another data point in the conservative movement’s love affair with Russia’s repressive government. It’s also striking to see MAGA activists providing a public relations victory to Russian President Vladimir Putin despite Russia’s efforts to aid Iran in the war Trump initiated and that he has framed as an existential battle.
Among the right-wing figures attending the conference was Rodney Mims Cook Jr., the chairman of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, The Independent reported. Cook is the official Trump tapped to oversee his ballroom boondoggle, a project opposed by a majority of Americans.
Per the Independent:
Cook told Russia’s TASS state news agency ahead of the forum that he was representing the US as a minister of culture and as a Christian not as a politician. He said he had helped restore various churches in Russia in the past, and on Tuesday gifted a religious icon to a male monastery in St Petersburg.
Also on the list of MAGA-linked guests were actor Steven Segal, a close ally of Putin who has declared he is “100% Russophile and 1 million percent Russian,” as well as misogynistic “manosphere” influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan, who received support from Trump officials last year as the pair face rape and sex trafficking charges in the United Kingdom and a criminal investigation in Romania (the brothers have denied any wrongdoing).
Also making appearances this week was far-right conspiracy theorist Candace Owens, who has maintained a large conservative following in spite of becoming something of a pariah to some in the MAGA movement over her criticism of the Iran war. Raw Story reported Owens’ appearance in particular seems to have angered some Trump supporters:
Radio host Mark Levin fired the opening shot Wednesday, calling Owens a “Woke Reich traitor” on X. Far-right activist Laura Loomer went further, demanding a federal investigation into whether Owens violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act — and suggesting she may be “auditioning to be the female Edward Snowden so she can avoid all accountability…”
The outrage directed at Owens seems to be more than a little bit selective, given the purportedly “America First” MAGA movement has more than its share of Russophilic figures, from the president on down.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.