Trump envoys Witkoff and Kushner in Moscow as new book reignites 'Russian asset' allegations

On 5 September 2026, two of Donald Trump’s closest envoys – Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner – arrived in Moscow for a visit whose purpose has not been officially disclosed, according to Ukrainska Pravda. The Kremlin later confirmed their presence in the Russian capital but offered no details on whom they planned to meet.

The visit comes just three days after the historian Lawrence Freedman, reviewing Luke Harding’s new book Betrayal in The Guardian, revived the debate over whether Donald Trump is a Russian asset. The review, which prompted thousands of comments across Europe, argues that Trump’s behaviour toward Vladimir Putin remains the “biggest mystery in international politics.”

Freedman points to the Alaska summit in 2025, where Trump rolled out a red carpet for Putin at Anchorage airport, nervously waited for the Russian leader to emerge from his plane, and then allowed Putin to speak first at their joint press conference. “It was a bizarre act of deference,” Freedman writes.

Harding’s book, released this week in Denmark with forthcoming Italian, Finnish and Ukrainian editions, lays out overlapping explanations for Trump’s submissive posture. One is ideological: Trump’s MAGA base views Russia as an “anti-woke” kindred state, a framing Putin has exploited by positioning himself as a defender of conservative values against a decadent Europe. Another, advanced by former White House adviser Fiona Hill, is “strongman envy” – Trump’s admiration for Putin’s ability to rule without democratic constraints.

Why this matters for Ukraine

For Ukraine and its European supporters, the timing of the Moscow visit is sensitive. Washington remains Kyiv’s most important military backer, and any signal of a US administration cosying up to the Kremlin raises fears of pressure on Ukraine to accept unfavourable peace terms. The Trump team has not commented on whether the envoys’ trip involves Ukraine – but given Moscow’s consistent demand that any settlement recognise its annexed territories, the silence fuels speculation.

Trump himself has denied any improper ties to Russia. Yet the pattern of deference – from the Helsinki summit in 2018, where he sided with Putin over US intelligence agencies, to the Alaska spectacle in 2025 – has not abated in his second term. Freedman’s review, and the book it discusses, present circumstantial evidence that Trump may have been cultivated by Moscow for decades, though no public intelligence service has formally labelled him an asset.

Separating fact from claim

What is confirmed: Witkoff and Kushner are in Moscow as of 5 September 2026. The purpose is unconfirmed. What is claimed: Harding and Freedman argue that Trump’s history of deference to Putin raises legitimate questions about his susceptibility to Kremlin influence. Trump and his allies reject any suggestion of impropriety.

For European readers watching the war in Ukraine, the unanswered question is whether these two tracks – the secretive visit and the ongoing public controversy – will converge into a shift in US policy. So far, the White House has given no indication of changing its military support for Kyiv. But as Betrayal lands in translation across the continent, the political noise around Trump’s Russia ties is only getting louder.