A New York Times report Wednesday night laid out the case that President Donald Trump's first month in office bears some resemblance to the early days of Russian President Vladimir Putin — but one journalist who fled Russia flagged a "hell of a difference" between the two, even as she agreed they "sound familiar."
Peter Baker, the Times' chief White House correspondent, noted in his report that 25 years ago, Yelena Tregubova was ousted from the Kremlin press pool, which covered Putin. Tregubova got the boot following the publication of her controversial book "Tales of a Kremlin Digger" in 2003, which criticized the Putin administration for suppressing press freedom. Tregubova lost her job and was expelled from the Kremlin reporters pool. A bomb exploded outside her apartment and she fled the country.
"In the scheme of things, it was a small moment, all but forgotten nearly 25 years later. But it was also a telling one. Mr. Putin did not care for challenges. The rest of the press pool got the message and eventually became what the Kremlin wanted it to be: a collection of compliant reporters who knew to toe the line or else they would pay a price," wrote Baker.
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The imagery bears some similarity to Trump's decision this month to bar The Associated Press from the Oval Office and Air Force One press pools over a spat on the Trump administration's decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
Baker acknowledged that while the U.S. is far from becoming Russia, "Trump’s Washington is bringing back memories of Mr. Putin’s Moscow in the early days."
"The news media is being pressured. Lawmakers have been tamed. Career officials deemed disloyal are being fired. Prosecutors named by a president who promised 'retribution' are targeting perceived adversaries and dropping cases against allies or others who do his bidding. Billionaire tycoons who once considered themselves masters of the universe are prostrating themselves before him," wrote Baker.
Additionally, judges who defy Trump's orders have been threatened with impeachment, and top military leaders have been ousted in favor of MAGA loyalists. Trump recently called himself "the king" and played it off as a joke, even as he floats running for a third term.
This all "sounds familiar" to Yevgenia Albats, a Russian journalist who fled her country facing threats of arrest.
“The oligarchs kissing the ring, the lawsuits against the media, the constraints on which media should be in the White House pool, and which are not — all that sounds familiar,” Albats told the Times.
Even so, she said the U.S. still has one institution that Russia does not: a stable court system.
“There is one huge difference,” she said. “You have a working and independent judiciary, and we did not. And this is a hell of a difference.”
Despite her confidence, Baker recalled Russians who once felt comfortable talking to the press quickly became fearful in late 2004 – and "there is a similar chill now in Washington."
"Every day someone who used to feel free to speak publicly against Mr. Trump says they will no longer let journalists quote them by name for fear of repercussions, both Democrats and Republicans," he lamented, noting they fear Kash Patel's FBI could knock on their door at any moment.