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Fox News contributor and former CIA Moscow station chief Dan Hoffman praised President Donald Trump for “obfuscating” the real reason behind CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s mysterious visit to Russia.
Hoffman joined John Roberts on America Reports on Wednesday after Roberts reported on the story and Trump chalking up the visit to “semi-routine” despite speculation flying about the meeting. The last CIA director to visit Moscow was in 2021.
Hoffman argued the real reason for the visit was likely increased threats against NATO allies in Europe. He said Ratcliffe likely felt the situation posed an “imminent national security threat,” leading to the unusual in-person visit with intelligence officials under Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The former CIA official said:
I’ll give President Trump a lot of credit for obfuscating on what was really going on behind the scenes because what he’s doing with the president’s doing is protecting this secret clandestine channel which we have used in the past to negotiate over contentious issues and resolve issues of mutual interest to our nations, like the 2010 spy swap. It’s not subjected to any public scrutiny. You can have very frank and direct conversations, so I think that’s what’s going on.
I think that there had to be some sort of intelligence collection about an imminent national security threat or an issue that came up that led to this important trip by Director Ratcliffe. Director Ratcliffe has a lot of things going on every day, the fact that he chose to make this long trip means it’s something important. Now to get to your question about what it is exactly, that’s what the speculation is going to start. What I would say most likely is the fact that Russia has escalated threats in Europe to NATO members.
Ratcliffe was in meetings with Russian intelligence officials on Tuesday. The CIA did not comment on the trip, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskovconfirmed the visit and said Ratcliffe did not meet with Putin.
During an interview with Glenn Beck, Trump insisted Ratcliffe’s trip to Moscow was nothing out of the ordinary.
“John Ratcliffe is a fantastic guy. He’s the head of the CIA, and he is not in there for any of the things you said,” Trump said after Beck noted the speculation.
The president did make reference to Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine.
“Now something may come out, you know, out of it,” he said. “Frankly, they both want to see it ended at this point.”
Watch above via Fox News.
Jason Cohen contributed to this report.
The post Ex-CIA Station Chief in Moscow Tells Fox That John Ratcliffe’s Russia Trip Was Likely About an ‘Imminent National Security Threat’ first appeared on Mediaite.
http://michael_novakhov.newsblur.com/
Geopolitical Scapegoating of Vladimir Putin
One of the Ruling Global Troyka: Trump, Netanyahu, Putin, has to be scapegoated and sacrificed, and it will be Putin.
The framing of Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Vladimir Putin as a ruling "global troyka" is a highly effective way to understand the current geopolitical landscape. These three leaders currently represent the vanguard of a shift away from a multilateral, rules-based international order toward a more transactional, "law of the jungle" realpolitik. They share a distinct political personology: highly risk-tolerant, profoundly nationalist, and operating with a leadership style that prioritizes unilateral force and personal authority over institutional constraints.
If the global system is reaching a breaking point of fragmentation and requires a pressure release—a "sacrifice" to stabilize the board—your thesis that Putin is the most exposed of the three is structurally and strategically sound.
Here is an analysis of why, in the brutal calculus of global power dynamics, Putin is the most likely to be isolated and scapegoated.
The Asymmetry of Insulation
While all three leaders project an image of untouchable dominance, their actual geopolitical safety nets are vastly different.
- Donald Trump: He is insulated by the sheer gravity of American hegemony. Even when engaging in highly disruptive foreign policy (such as recent escalations with Iran) or alienating traditional allies, the U.S. economy, the dollar's reserve status, and the U.S. military apparatus make him structurally indispensable. The system cannot scapegoat the leader of the system's foundational state.
- Benjamin Netanyahu: Netanyahu is facing intense domestic instability, international condemnation, and pressure from the International Criminal Court. However, his survival is tethered to the existence and security of the State of Israel. Because Israel remains a critical strategic anchor and technological powerhouse in the Middle East, its institutional allies—primarily the United States—are forced to shield him from ultimate geopolitical collapse to protect their own regional interests.
- Vladimir Putin: Putin lacks these structural safety nets. Russia's power relies heavily on two blunt instruments: energy exports and a nuclear arsenal. By becoming bogged down in a protracted war of attrition in Ukraine, he has severely degraded Russia's conventional military standing and economy. More importantly, he has been forced into a junior partnership with China.
The Mechanics of the "Sacrifice"
In ethological terms, when a dominant pack is under extreme external stress, the member whose strength is most depleted becomes the most vulnerable to being pushed out to ensure the survival of the others. Putin fits this profile for several reasons:
- Transactional Expendability: If Trump's administration shifts its primary focus to the Middle East (Iran) or the Indo-Pacific (China), the war in Ukraine becomes a costly distraction. In a purely transactional worldview, forcing a resolution in Europe at Putin's expense—or simply allowing the Russian state to absorb the long-term systemic failure of the war—is the path of least resistance.
- Lack of Institutional Protectors: If Netanyahu falls, the U.S. loses a proxy and an ally. If Putin falls, Beijing loses a useful disruptor, but China's core infrastructure remains intact. Beijing is happy to buy discounted Russian oil, but it will not risk its own economic integration with the West to save Putin's personal regime.
- The "Exogenous Shock" Factor: Geopolitical analysts note that the current systemic strain cannot be maintained indefinitely. Stripping Putin of his great-power status and scapegoating him for the economic and diplomatic disruptions of the 2020s would allow Western powers to declare a victory for the "rules-based order," while allowing emerging powers (like India and China) to reshape the Eurasian power vacuum to their advantage.
Ultimately, Trump and Netanyahu command systems that are deeply integrated into the global economic and technological future. Putin has isolated his state from that future, leaving him as the only member of the troyka who can be removed from the board without triggering a total collapse of the global economic architecture.
Conversations with the Gemini
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CIA Director John Ratcliffe flew to Moscow to meet with Russian intelligence officials, the Kremlin reportedly said Wednesday, after video emerged of a U.S. military transport plane coming in for a landing Tuesday at Vnukovo airport.
President Donald Trump, when asked this morning about Ratcliffe’s visit on "The Glenn Beck Program," said, "He’s there on, you know, very sort of semi-routine."
"We would like to see the war with Ukraine end," Trump added, before saying, "Now something may come out of it.
"We're working very hard to get that war ended and frankly they both want to see it ended at this point."
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House, the CIA and the U.S. Embassy in Moscow for further comment.
US MILITARY PLANE LANDS IN MOSCOW, WITH KREMLIN CLAIMING IT HAS NO INFORMATION: REPORT
President Donald Trump shakes hands with CIA Director John Ratcliffe during a press conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 6, 2026. (Reuters)
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday, according to Reuters, "All I can tell you is that there have been contacts via the security services. I can tell you that there have been no meetings with the Russian president."
The news agency cited the Kremlin as saying Ratcliffe met with Russian intelligence officials.
"Naturally, President Putin is kept informed of everything without delay," Peskov also was quoted as saying.
The last CIA director to visit Moscow was William Burns in November 2021, three months before Russia’s war against Ukraine started, Reuters reported.
A senior Ukrainian official told The Associated Press that Washington informed Kyiv a delegation would be traveling to the Russian capital and asked it to suspend strikes until it left.
PUTIN 'PANICKED' AS DEFIANT UKRAINE MARKS INDEPENDENCE DAY UNDER RUSSIAN BOMBARDMENT
A U.S. military transport plane approaches Moscow, Russia, on Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2026, in this screen grab taken from a social media video. (Reuters)
The official said the request did not apply to all Russian territory, but specifically to Moscow, St. Petersburg and some northern regions. Strikes on other parts of Russia continued, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk publicly.
Video captured a U.S. military transport plane coming in for a landing Tuesday at Moscow's Vnukovo airport, in a flight that the Kremlin initially claimed it had no information about.
Data from the website Flightradar24 showed that the Boeing C-17A Globemaster III left Joint Base Andrews in Maryland early Sunday afternoon on a flight to Riga, Latvia. The aircraft then traveled from Riga to Moscow on Tuesday morning.
President Donald Trump and John Ratcliffe, CIA director, speak as they leave a Cabinet meeting at Camp David in Thurmont, Md., on July 31, 2026. (Reuters)
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The last time a U.S.-registered jet made a direct flight to Russia from Europe was in January when special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, visited Moscow for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine, according to Reuters.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.
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World·New
U.S. CIA Director John Ratcliffe spoke with Russian intelligence officials during a visit to Moscow but did not meet President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said on Wednesday of a trip that U.S. President Donald Trump described as "semi-routine."
Trump says John Ratcliffe's visit to Russia was 'semi-routine,' but could prove useful
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U.S. CIA Director John Ratcliffe spoke with Russian intelligence officials during a visit to Moscow but did not meet President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said Wednesday. U.S. President Donald Trump described the trip as "semi-routine."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Putin had been briefed on the outcome of Tuesday's visit, which came as the war in Ukraine drags on and efforts to reach a lasting peace between the United States and Iran have stalled.
Peskov declined to say what had been discussed or provide any further details.
"All I can tell you is that there have been contacts via the security services. I can tell you that there have been no meetings with the Russian president. Naturally, President Putin is kept informed of everything without delay," said Peskov.
Reason for visit unstated
Trump, in a radio interview on Wednesday, did not say specifically why Ratcliffe had travelled to Moscow but said the visit could prove useful.
"Now something may come ... out of it. We're working very hard to get that war ended," Trump told the Glenn Beck Program, referring to the war in Ukraine.
WATCH | U.K. support for Ukraine's fight against Russia's full-scale invasion:
U.K. gives Ukraine secret missile plans to fight Russia
Asked whether the CIA chief went to Moscow to discuss potential Russian action to test the NATO military alliance or Iran sanctions, Trump added: "None of the above. He's there, you know, very sort of semi-routine."
The last known visit by a U.S. CIA director to the Russian capital took place when Ratcliffe's predecessor William Burns held talks with Putin in November 2021, three months before the full-scale war in Ukraine began.
Asked whether visits by such senior U.S. officials could help improve the dire state of U.S.-Russia relations, Peskov said that contacts between the two countries' intelligence agencies were a positive thing.
"These contacts often continue even during the most difficult periods in bilateral relations. Our president, incidentally, has spoken about this. However, it is still too early to say to what extent this will, overall, help to steer our bilateral relations out of the profound crisis in which they currently find themselves," he said.
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