Kremlin propagandists have reacted with glee to decisions made by President Donald Trump since he entered the Oval Office, with one guest on state television saying the administration’s stance on geopolitics even chimed with Moscow’s.

During a discussion on the program Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, guests welcomed Trump’s decisions to slap tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China and the geopolitical turbulence they have caused.

One pundit, Henry Sardaryan, described as “simply sensational” comments by the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio talking about a unipolar world as an “anomaly,” which he interpreted to mean that the U.S. wanted to push for a multipolar world.

Why It Matters

The sentiments on Russian state television do not necessarily reflect Kremlin thinking. But after expressing uncertainty about the impact of the new administration on Moscow, the propagandists’ comments on Trump may be a sign they do not fear him, despite his pledges for there to be swift end to the war in Ukraine.

What to Know

In an excerpt posted on X by Russia watcher and journalist Julia Davis, anchor Vladimir Solovyov played a clip of Trump announcing tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which the broadcaster described as “awesome” amid guests’ laughter.

The group then highlighted comments by Trump’s new envoy to Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, urging Kyiv to hold elections.

This plays into Kremlin rhetoric that questions the legitimacy of President Volodymyr Zelensky. He ruled that Ukraine cannot hold a ballot due to wartime martial law, which Vladimir Putin has said means he can’t sign documents that would end the war.

Solovyov said Kellogg’s comments show Americans “have adopted our point of view”—an alleged shift in Washington’s stance also claimed by Sardaryan, a political expert from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

He then referred to Secretary Marco Rubio’s comments to Fox News that “it’s not normal for the world to simply have a unipolar power” and that “eventually you were going to reach back to a point where you had a multipolar world.”

Sardaryan described the statement as “simply sensational” and he had “to re-check it three times” because it was the sort of thing that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Moscow had been saying “for three years,” adding that: “Very significant changes are taking place in the United States.”

Rubio did not mention ending primacy as a grand strategy for the U.S. and it is unclear to what extent Trump holds this view.

Meanwhile, other Russian state media outlets welcomed Trump’s decisions, suggesting that Moscow could benefit from tariffs especially if they lead to a rise in global energy prices. The newspaper Izvestia said that Russia “might even profit from a new trade war.”

The tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda said that the Trump tariffs do not threaten the Russian economy and that they could reduce trade between the U.S. and China, which Russia could exploit by selling its own goods.

What people are saying

Sardaryan said: “I want us to pay very close attention to the latest statement of Marco Rubio, it was simply sensational…He said what we’ve been asserting for three years.”

Rubio said on Fox News: “It’s not normal for the world to simply have a unipolar power…that was an anomaly. It was a product of the end of the Cold War, but eventually you were going to reach back to a point where you had a multipolar world.”

Russia watcher Julia Davis on X: “Meanwhile in Russia: state TV’s top experts expressed how thrilled they are with America’s new direction under Trump.”

What Happens Next

In posting the segment, Davis said that Russian TV pundits are happy with the new direction of the U.S. under Trump and what it means for Russia. The propagandists’ are likely to continue discussing U.S. tariffs and whether Trump can force Moscow to the negotiating table over the war in Ukraine.