Beautiful Virgin Islands

Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025

Trump adviser apologises for interview with Kremlin-backed media

Trump adviser apologises for interview with Kremlin-backed media

Scott Atlas says he regrets ‘allowing myself to be taken advantage of’, adding he was unaware that Russian news outlet RT was a registered foreign agent.

Scott Atlas, a White House policy adviser on the coronavirus, apologised on Sunday for “allowing myself to be taken advantage of” by a Russian media outlet backed by the Kremlin.

Atlas said he spoke to RT without realising the company’s foreign ties.

“I recently did an interview with RT and was unaware they are a registered foreign agent,” tweeted Atlas, a neuroradiologist who joined the White House in August. “I regret doing the interview and apologise for allowing myself to be taken advantage of. I especially apologise to the national security community who is working hard to defend us.”


The Foreign Agents Registration Act “requires certain agents of foreign principals who are engaged in political activities or other activities … to make periodic public disclosure of their relationship with the foreign principal, as well as activities, receipts and disbursements in support of those activities”, according to the Justice Department.

Atlas did a lengthy interview with RT’s Afshin Rattansi on Saturday, just days before Tuesday’s presidential election. The nearly 28-minute segment was posted to the YouTube page Going Underground on RT.

The director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe, warned last month that Iran and Russia had obtained voter registration data of some Americans. And US intelligence officials found that Russia had sought to influence the 2016 presidential election, writing in a January 2017 report that “Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect [Donald] Trump”.

In August, the director of the National Counter-intelligence and Security Centre, William Evanina, announced that Russia was “using a range of measures to primarily denigrate former vice-president Biden and what it sees as an anti-Russia ‘establishment’”.

“Some Kremlin-linked actors are also seeking to boost President Trump’s candidacy on social media and Russian television,” he said in a statement at the time.

In the interview on Saturday, Atlas said there was no understating the pandemic, noting the US death toll.

“It’s tragic. There’s no question about that,” he said. “But if you wanna know what’s happening right now, I think there’s a gross distortion that has sort of been typical of the reporting on this. And that is that there’s this frenzy of focusing on the number of cases when we see a lot of reasons to be sort of, you know, cautiously optimistic here rather than fearful.”

More than 9 million Americans have been infected by Covid-19, and more than 230,000 people have died in the US.

Trump has falsely claimed that the country is “rounding the turn”, but Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told The Washington Post in an interview published on Saturday that the nation was “in for a whole lot of hurt.”

“It’s not a good situation,” he said. “All the stars are aligned in the wrong place as you go into the fall and winter season, with people congregating at home indoors. You could not possibly be positioned more poorly.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Airlines Evaluate Flight Cancellations Amid Escalating US-Iran Tensions
Starmer Invites Innovators to Join Government Talent Scheme
UK Economy’s Strong Opening Quarter Shows Signs of Cooling
Harrods Seeks Court Order to Secure Al Fayed Estate for Victims
BA and Singapore Airlines Cancel Dubai Flights Amid Middle East Tensions
Trump Faces Backlash from MAGA Base Over Iran Strikes
Meta Bets $14 B on Alexandr Wang to Drive AI Ambitions
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Company, Dies at 80
Chinese Factories Shift Away from U.S. Amid Trump‑Era Tariffs
Pimco Seizes Opportunity in Japan’s Dislocated Bond Market
Labubu Doll Drives Pop Mart to Status as China’s Most Valuable Toy Maker
Global Coal Demand Defies Paris Accord Goals
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
BBC Demands Perplexity AI Immediately Stop Using Its Content
Telegram Founder: I Will Leave My Fortune to Over 100 of My Children
Political Turmoil Resurfaces in Belgium Amid Economic Concerns
Fed policymakers divided on timing of interest rate cuts
Trump signals imminent agreement with Harvard University
Inheritance tax referendum alarms Swiss billionaire community
Japan cancels bilateral security meeting amid US defence demands
AI skeptic Emily Bender warns that ‘the emperor has no clothes’
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
Plans to Sell Dutch Embassy in Bangkok Face Local Opposition
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump's $5 Million 'Trump Card' Visa Program Draws Nearly 70,000 Applicants
DGCA Finds No Major Safety Concerns in Air India's Boeing 787 Fleet
Airlines Reroute Flights Amid Expanding Middle East Conflict Zones
Elon Musk's xAI Seeks $9.3 Billion in Funding Amid AI Expansion
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Taiwan Imposes Export Ban on Chips to Huawei and SMIC
Israel has just announced plans to strike Tehran again, and in response, Trump has urged people to evacuate
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
EU Proposes Ban on New Russian Gas Contracts
Analysts Warn Iran May Resort to Unconventional Warfare
Iranian Regime Faces Existential Threat Amid Conflict
Energy Infrastructure Becomes War Zone in Middle East
×