Alnur Mussayev, a former head of Kazakhstan’s security service and ex-KGB chief, claims that Moscow began grooming Donald Trump as an asset in 1987 under the codename “Krasnov.”
Mussayev made these claims in a Facebook post on February 20, revealing that during his time with the Soviet KGB, one of the top priorities was to recruit businessmen from capitalist countries. He explained that in 1987, the KGB recruited Trump, who was then a 40-year-old businessman, under the alias “Krasnov.”
The former spy chief’s statements add weight to long-standing suspicions about Trump’s ties to Russia, which have fueled debates ever since he became president in 2017. Trump has often been accused of being unusually sympathetic to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mussayev’s comments come amid ongoing controversy over the so-called “Steele dossier,” which alleges that Russian intelligence has compromising material (or “kompromat”) on Trump dating back to his visits to Moscow. While the dossier’s credibility has been disputed, Mussayev, who now lives in Austria, stands by his claims that Trump is under Russia’s influence.
In another Facebook post from February 2018, Mussayev wrote: “Trump belongs to the category of ideally recruitable people,” adding that the Kremlin has been promoting him for years. He suggested that U.S. officials were aware of Trump’s dependence on Russia but avoided acknowledging it publicly to maintain America’s status as the world’s leading power.
Another former KGB officer, Yuri Shvets, made similar claims in a 2021 book, American Kompromat. Shvets, who was a KGB major in the 1980s, said that Moscow recruited Trump because of his vulnerability to flattery and his anti-Western views. According to Shvets, there were even celebrations in Moscow when Trump echoed Russian propaganda.
“Donald Trump was cultivated as a Russian asset… and proved so willing to parrot anti-Western propaganda that there were celebrations in Moscow,” Shvets told the Guardian in 2021.
Shvets traced the start of Trump’s recruitment to 1977, when Trump married Ivana Zelníčková, a Czech model. He said that Czech intelligence began monitoring Ivana, and soon after, Trump was targeted for recruitment. Shvets believes that the KGB spotted Trump as a potential asset during his rise in real estate, including his development of the Grand Hyatt hotel in New York.
Trump’s relationship with Russia also drew attention during his 2016 presidential campaign. Shvets described him as a “perfect target” for recruitment due to his narcissism and vanity. Trump’s connections to Russian businessmen, such as Dmitry Rybolovlev, who helped Trump during a financial crisis, have fueled further suspicions.
Rybolovlev was seen at a peace talk in Riyadh on February 18, where Russian officials discussed the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Trump’s actions on the world stage continue to raise questions about his ties to Russia, an Mussayev’s comments serve as a reminder of the long-standing suspicion that the U.S. president may have been groomed as an asset for Moscow.
