Securing Democracy Dispatch

Last week, the Trump administration announced it would close the Foreign Malign Influence Center, the last remaining US federal organ dedicated to tracking and analyzing foreign interference targeting US institutions, elections, and society. This decision is a “blow to US national security and a gift to America’s adversaries, who have no interest in slowing down” such operations, Managing Director David Salvo writes in Just Security.

Russian diplomats and state media focused on two main narratives this week:

• USAID Interference in Moldova’s Elections: Russian propaganda outlets spread claims that Samantha Power, a former head of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), admitted to interfering in Moldova’s internal affairs. Sputnik Mundo amplified a video, allegedly recorded by Russian prank journalists, purporting that USAID “spent tens of millions of dollars supporting Moldovan President Maia Sandu”. Lenta.ru asserted that Powers talked about “an unprecedented” expansion of USAID’s presence and funding to support democracy and resist Russian influence in Moldova. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova scoffed at the video, saying that Power was worried whether “evil flowers” she planted in Moldova would bloom. RT reminded its audience that former prosecutor and Moldovan presidential candidate Alexandr Stoianoglo previously claimed that USAID supposedly donated $22 million to Sandu’s presidential campaign. 
• Russia-India Cooperation: Russian officials and state media promoted Russia-India cooperation ahead of the United States imposing a 50% tariff rate on India as a punishment for buying Russian oil. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov celebrated “wide strides” in hydrocarbon cooperation with India after his meeting with Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Moscow. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov noted that trade between the two countries increased 700% over the past five years and that India is now one of Russia’s top three trading partners. India’s ambassador to Russia declared that India would buy oil “where it is advantageous”, calling the US decision to impose tariffs “unfair and unreasonable”. Kumar also added that there were no problems with payment for oil supplies because the two sides “have a working scheme for resolving trade issues in national currencies”. An expert on RT en Español speculated that tariffs were “a huge pretext” to force New Delhi to open its market to US agricultural products.

The PRC’s diplomats and state media focused on two main narratives this week:

• China-India Relations: Last week, PRC messaging hyped up China-India ties after PRC Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 19. The key message amplified by diplomats and state media alike was that both countries are “partners, not rivals”. PRC state media relayed Indian officials’ attacks on US tariffs and Beijing’s envoy to New Delhi pledged that “China stands by India in the face of US tariffs.” The PRC Ambassador to India promoted the two countries’ bilateral trade, while the embassy’s spokesperson praised their economic growth and relayed Russian state media’s praise of “a future of strategic harmony.” The nationalist tabloid Global Times shared news that Modi had “refused to take four calls from US President Donald Trump” and advised that “India needs a more balanced foreign policy.” The head of China Daily in Europe attacked “low IQ [former UN ambassador Nikki] Haley” for trying to “use and abuse India.”
• Xi in Tibet: State media covered the PRC leader’s trip to Tibet for the 60th anniversary of the PRC takeover of the province, from the “warmth and motivation” he imparted upon his arrival to the “grand gathering” over which he presided and the “warm send-off” he received on his way back to Beijing. PRC diplomats in the African Union, Australia, Malaysia, South Sudan, the United Nations, and the United States all followed the PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson in posting an image comparing impoverished Tibetans in the 1950s with a modern classroom in the region today. China Daily covered a visit to “the Museum of the Emancipation of Tibetan Serfs” and CGTN showed several videos of dancing locals. The PRC Consulate General in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, amplified a pro-PRC influencer who highlighted Beijing’s great respect for local culture. That same influencer also rebutted former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s criticism of Xi’s visit, calling the United States “the true greatest threat to global diversity and freedom on Earth.”

Iranian diplomats and state media focused on one main narrative this week:

• Australia: Last week, Iranian state messengers sharply condemned and vowed a reciprocal response to Australia’s expulsion of Iran’s ambassador over accusations that Tehran directed antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. On X, Foreign Minister Sayed Abbas Araghchi called Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese “weak” and claimed the accusations were an appeasement to Israel. The post was retweeted across Iran’s diplomatic channels. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson dismissed the accusations as baseless under the pretext that antisemitism is a “Western phenomenon” rooted in European history and has no place in Iranian culture or religion. Iranian state media similarly insisted that Canberra’s accusation was a “ploy” intended to divert global attention from the genocide in Palestine. Fars News amplified international discontent with Australia, repeating foreign activists’ comments that Canberra is “doing [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s bidding” and Albanese is “under the control of Washington”.

Denmark accuses Trump-connected individuals of conducting a foreign-interference operation in Greenland: Denmark summoned the top US diplomat in the country over reports that at least three individuals connected to the Trump administration have conducted “covert influence operations” to weaken Danish relations with Greenland, including by trying to foster a secessionist movement on the island. Managing Director David Salvo writes, “Details of this purported operation targeting Greenland are scant, but the Danish government has said the quiet part out loud: many Europeans believe the United States is now a purveyor of foreign interference in European democracy and internal domestic affairs. If it’s true that Trump-connected individuals—essentially proxies of the administration—sought to subvert Greenland’s civil society to foment secessionist tendencies, defining it as a foreign-interference operation would not be a stretch.” 

In Case You Missed It

• The US government has discussed acquiring AI software to manufacture and disseminate information campaigns abroad, according to US Special Operations Command documents seen by the Intercept.
• Pro-Kremlin websites in Czechia publish 120 pieces per day on average—far outpacing the country’s traditional news media. Around 10% were translated or rewrote articles from EU-sanctioned Russian outlets, including RT, Sputnik, and RIA Novosti, according to a new analysis.
• DW and RFI România launched a program to support independent journalism and counter information manipulation in Moldova, producing content in both Romanian and Russian.

US-Außenminister: Die erstaunliche Wandlung des Marco Rubio (The astonishing transformation of Marco Rubio). Managing Director David Salvo quoted in DIE ZEIT (in German)

The views expressed in GMF publications and commentary are the views of the author alone.