The Kremlin’s poisoning of democratic discourse has reached New Zealand. What would once have seemed unthinkable is now plain to see: Russian propaganda narratives have infiltrated our public debate, even on this distant shore.
Usually, I focus this column on European affairs. But the alarming spread of Kremlin-aligned talking points following the Trump-Zelensky showdown demands attention. It represents a genuine threat to our democratic conversation.
The scene in the Oval Office on 28 February needs little recounting. President Trump’s public humiliation of Ukrainian President Zelensky shocked allies and delighted Moscow.
European leaders reacted with horror, while Russian officials barely contained their glee. One person, and one alone, emerged strengthened from this diplomatic disaster: Vladimir Putin.
Yet, remarkably, a chorus of voices – including several commentators in New Zealand – rushed to defend Trump’s behaviour.
Scan the comments sections of mainstream news sites, political blogs, or social media platforms discussing the incident, and you will find a remarkably consistent set of responses.
Some claim Zelensky employed “manipulation tactics” in the Oval Office. Others assert the entire Ukraine conflict is merely a “money laundering exercise” for Western elites. Some dismiss Zelensky as an “egotistical politician” unconcerned with his people’s suffering. Many accuse NATO of being the true aggressor.
This rhetoric reflects a concerning pattern. Critiques of Trump often receive a predictable response, regardless of the source. Critics are promptly diagnosed with “Trump Derangement Syndrome” (TDS), a supposedly clinical condition that renders them incapable of rational thought when it comes to the 45th and 47th president.
This diagnosis has become so standardised that Trump’s defenders simply use the acronym TDS as if referencing an established medical condition rather than engaging with substantive arguments. It functions as a convenient dismissal mechanism, allowing complex geopolitical concerns to be waved away as mere emotional reaction.
However, the diagnosis is more aptly applied to Trump’s defenders than his detractors. It is they who exhibit the defining symptoms of derangement: abandonment of previously held principles, immunity to factual evidence and willingness to excuse behaviour they would condemn in any other context.
The moral compass of these devotees has been so thoroughly corrupted that it no longer points to true north but swivels toward whatever position Trump adopts, no matter how contradictory or problematic.
It must be exhausting to maintain this level of devotion. They champion tariffs when he proposes them, then pivot to supporting their cancellation when he changes his mind. They criticise endless wars until Trump threatens to start new ones. The only consistent principle is unwavering loyalty to Trump himself.
When policy experts express concerns about Trump’s approach to geopolitics, the conspiratorial thinking deepens. Any critique, no matter how carefully reasoned, is immediately framed as evidence of some shadowy globalist agenda. Social media responses routinely paint critics as operatives of various global conspiracies – from the World Economic Forum to vaguely defined “elite cabals” supposedly controlling governments from the shadows.
Equally concerning are the comments appearing across New Zealand’s online discourse whenever Trump’s treatment of Ukraine is discussed. The responses mirror Kremlin talking points with remarkable fidelity. Critics of Trump’s position are dismissed as ‘emotional’ or ‘stuck in Cold War thinking.
The most extreme comments directly echo Moscow’s framing that Western elites are the real aggressors against Russia.
These positions reflect a remarkable inversion of values among many of these self-described “conservatives.” Voices that once championed NATO as the bulwark of Western security now applaud Trump’s undermining of the alliance that has preserved peace in Europe for over seven decades.
They find themselves, perhaps unwittingly, aligned with Kremlin propagandists who openly celebrated Trump’s public humiliation of Zelensky.
As documented extensively by disinformation researchers, Russian influence operations have targeted Western audiences with specific themes: portraying Zelensky as ungrateful and corrupt (and Jewish), framing Ukraine as a puppet of Western elites, depicting NATO as provocative rather than defensive, and presenting Trump as the lone voice of reason in a hysterical establishment.
Most of those parroting these narratives would not see themselves as disseminators of Russian propaganda. They genuinely believe they have reached their conclusions independently.
In reality, though, they have become precisely what Soviet intelligence once called “useful idiots” – unwitting amplifiers of foreign propaganda. They serve Putin’s strategic interests while believing themselves to be free thinkers.
These are not coincidental overlaps. The Kremlin has identified right-wing populism as fertile ground for its messaging, correctly assessing that cultural grievances about ‘wokeness’ could be leveraged to undermine Western unity.
It has worked remarkably well. Many conservative commentators now unthinkingly regurgitate talking points that originated in Russian disinformation factories, not because they are Russian agents but because these narratives conveniently align with their cultural hostility toward progressive politics.
This brings us to perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the Trump-defenders’ derangement: their willingness to sacrifice core security principles on the altar of anti-wokeness.
Many have convinced themselves that opposing “liberal elites” justifies any means, including aligning with an authoritarian leader who openly admires dictators.
They have bizarrely cast Zelensky as a symbol of the progressive values they despise rather than seeing him for what he is: a wartime president fighting for his nation’s survival. And so, they cheer when Trump humiliates him, not considering the strategic implications for Western security or the moral message it sends.
There is a certain irony to all this. These self-proclaimed guardians of conservatism have abandoned virtually every principle traditionally associated with that philosophy: strong national defence, support for one’s allies, moral clarity regarding authoritarian regimes and the importance of character in leadership.
Instead, they have embraced a vapid cult of personality, where the only consistent value is loyalty to Trump himself.
I ask myself what it would take for Trump’s defenders to reconsider their unwavering support. What line must he cross before they reconsider? Perhaps abandoning NATO Article 5 commitments? Would selling out Taiwan to China suffice? Or maybe praising Xi Jinping the way he praises Putin?
The reality is that Trump has already crossed countless lines that would have been unimaginable for any previous American president.
He has openly sided with Putin over his own intelligence agencies. He has threatened political opponents with imprisonment. America voted with Russia, China, North Korea and Iran against a UN resolution supporting Ukraine. He has praised dictators while insulting democratic allies. He has called the free press “the enemy of the people.” And now he has publicly humiliated a wartime leader fighting for his nation’s survival.
Yet still, his defenders insist that those of us pointing out these alarming developments are the deranged ones.
For a small nation like New Zealand, this is particularly dangerous. Our prosperity and security depend entirely on what remains of a rules-based international order, much of which Trump has already unravelled.
If powerful nations can bully smaller ones with impunity, and if security guarantees can be withdrawn on a presidential whim, our position becomes precarious.
Trump’s approach to Ukraine signals that he views international relations as purely transactional, with no room for values or principles. In such a world, New Zealand’s interests might be breezily sacrificed by major powers focused exclusively on their own agendas.
Kiwi commentators cheering Trump’s behaviour applaud the dismantling of the system that protects us.
History will not look kindly on those who enabled the unravelling of the liberal international order, particularly those who did so while pretending to uphold conservative values. Just as appeasers of the 1930s are remembered with scorn, today’s apologists for authoritarianism will eventually face a harsh judgment.
The cure for the real Trump Derangement Syndrome is straightforward: a return to moral clarity and intellectual honesty.
It requires acknowledging that principles matter more than personalities, that facts should outweigh partisan loyalty, and that democracy is worth defending even when its messengers are imperfect.
Most importantly, it demands recognising that when you find yourself on the same side as the Kremlin in matters of international security, it might be time to reconsider your position.
For those still defending Trump’s assault on Ukraine and the Western alliance, that moment of reckoning cannot come soon enough.
To read the full article on the Newsroom website, click here.