Trump Goes Even Further

by Alexander Dugin

Alexander Dugin reveals the key levers of influence.

Donald Trump’s dissolution of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) is an event of paramount importance, one whose significance can hardly be overstated. But why did this happen? First and foremost, it is crucial to recognize that Trump, in his second term, is not merely a successful politician — he represents an alternative strategy. This is a strategy of anti-globalism and realism in international relations.

For Trump himself, only American interests matter — specifically, the interests of the United States as a nation-state. He categorically rejects the idea of America as a tool for globally advancing liberal democracy. He simply does not care whether liberal democracy exists in other countries or not. His sole concern is the fate of the United States.

Accordingly, global media, whose purpose has been to promote liberal-democratic values and a globalist agenda, appear to Trump as an unprofitable, meaningless, and even hostile entity. After all, these media outlets propagate the narratives of his opponents: liberals, globalists, and the deep state. This is precisely why he is dismantling what he sees as unnecessary, wasteful, and politically adversarial. In other words, he is acting entirely logically, reshaping America in accordance with his vision of great power politics.

As for the broader significance of this event, one must remember that a person’s environment is language. Aristotle called man a zoon logon echon — a living being endowed with logos, meaning a being that uses language. This is our defining characteristic. Language, the word, constitutes the human world. Accordingly, various totalitarian ideologies have long sought to control human existence through language. One of the primary tools for such control is propaganda — media that are ideologically oriented and create multiple discourses, all directed toward the same goal, thereby transforming the linguistic field in which people exist.

Media are instruments of power. It is no coincidence that they are called the “fourth estate” — they control discourse, shape narratives, and in doing so, create the linguistic reality that becomes people’s natural habitat. Through this, they exert influence over society. There is nothing new in this; globalists have used media under their control for decades to advance their ideology.

Today, Trump is not so much waging war against mediacracy as he is dismantling the aspects of it that contradict his vision of the world order. There is nothing surprising about this. Those who speak of “independent media” are simply lying. This is a liberal cliché that does not correspond to reality in any way. Every media outlet has a guiding authority; all media serve a particular ideological paradigm, which depends on their source of funding.

In other words, every media organization has its own “ideological master.” This master either directly finances the media’s existence or supervises this financing on behalf of a higher-ranking master. This applies not only to traditional media but also to social networks. Depending on their ownership, these platforms establish their own criteria for weighing the relevance, permissibility, or prohibition of certain topics, authors, and experts.

Thus, there is nothing extraordinary in this development. The closure of Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and other globalist media institutions is simply part of Trump’s plan to reshape the linguistic landscape and the geopolitical reality of the world in a different direction. We must respond to this with composure, focusing on strengthening our own civilizational discourse and ensuring that our media serve Russian meanings and the Russian paradigm. Whether state-run or private, the key is that the discourse remains Russian.

Likewise, anti-American or globalist discourse has no place in America — something Trump is demonstrating in action. This brilliant example of shutting down toxic media is more than relevant for us as well. And indeed, we are gradually implementing similar measures ourselves.

(Translated from the Russian)

Order Alexander Dugin’s The Trump Revolution here.