🕷️ Crawler Inspector

URL Lookup

Direct Parameter Lookup

Raw Queries and Responses

1. Shard Calculation

Query:

Response:

Calculated Shard: 192 (from laksa173)

2. Crawled Status Check

Query:

curl -X POST \
  'http://laksa192.int.ahrefs:8124/' \
  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
  -d 'SELECT getAhrefsURLFromUnparsed(src_unparsed) AS found_url, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(download_stamp), 0) AS crawl_time, ifNull(toUnixTimestamp(props_url_first_seen), 0) AS first_indexed_time, download_http_code AS http_code, src_unparsed AS src_unparsed, src_root_hash AS src_root_hash, history_drop_reason AS history_drop_reason, meta_title AS meta_title, meta_descriptions AS meta_descriptions, attrs_boilerpipe_text AS attrs_boilerpipe_text, attrs_markdown AS attrs_markdown, attrs_readable_markdown AS attrs_readable_markdown, meta_canonical AS meta_canonical FROM crawler3.page_info_local FINAL PREWHERE (src_root_hash, src_unparsed) IN ((getAhrefsRootHashFromUnparsed(getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.alternet.org/2021/01/trump-russia\')), getAhrefsUnparsedNoserviceFromURL(\'https://www.alternet.org/2021/01/trump-russia\'))) FORMAT JSONEachRow'

Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/2021\/01\/trump-russia","crawl_time":1775629630,"first_indexed_time":1670301040,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"org,alternet!www,\/2021\/01\/trump-russia s443","src_root_hash":"14340544814419502192","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"Former KGB spy makes explosive claims Donald Trump - Alternet.org","meta_descriptions":["A former spy for the KGB is making explosive claims about Russia's efforts to \"cultivate\" former President Donald Trump as an intelligence asset.In an interview with the Guardian, former KGB official Yuri Shvets claims that the then-Soviet government starting in the 1980s began to see Trump as a pot..."],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"A former spy for the KGB is making explosive claims about\nRussia's efforts to \"cultivate\" former President Donald Trump\nas an intelligence asset.\nIn\nan interview with the Guardian\n, former KGB official Yuri Shvets claims that the then-Soviet government starting in the 1980s began to see Trump as a potential instrument for spreading\nanti-NATO propaganda\n.\nIn fact, Shvets says that Soviet agents even planted the idea of running for office in Trump's head when he visited St. Petersburg and Moscow in 1987.\n\"For the KGB, it was a charm offensive,\" he explains. \"They had collected a lot of information on his personality so they knew who he was personally. The feeling was that he was extremely vulnerable intellectually, and psychologically, and he was prone to flattery.\"\nShortly after Trump's trip to the USSR, he took out a major advertisement in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Boston Globe, in which he questioned why America should be paying for the security of NATO countries.\n\"The bizarre intervention was cause for astonishment and jubilation in Russia,\" the Guardian writes. \"A few days later Shvets, who had returned home by now, was at the headquarters of the KGB's first chief directorate in Yasenevo when he received a cable celebrating the ad as a successful \"active measure\" executed by a new KGB asset.\"\nAlthough Trump throughout his first term was notoriously friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he also took multiple actions that angered the Kremlin, such as his decision to launch missiles into Russian ally Syria in 2017 for its use of chemical weapons on civilians.\nAuthor Craig Unger, who used Shvets as a key source for his upcoming book\nAmerican Kompromat\n, tells the Guardian that Russia did not have some grand long-term conspiracy to make Trump president, but rather lucked into Trump's presidency through a series of unlikely events.\n\"It was not this grand, ingenious plan that we're going to develop this guy and 40 years later he'll be president,\" he says. \"At the time it started, which was around 1980, the Russians were trying to recruit like crazy and going after dozens and dozens of people.\"","attrs_markdown":"- [Home](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/)\n- [MSN](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/msn\/)\n- [Commentary](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/commentary\/)\n- [Frontpage featured](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/Frontpage-feature\/)\n- [Frontpage videos](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/Frontpage-videos\/)\n- [Frontpage news and politics](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/Frontpage-news-and-politics\/)\n- [Culture](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/culture\/)\n- 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NEWSLETTER\\!](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/st\/sign-up-for-alternets-newsletter)\n- [News & Politics](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/news-politics)\n- [GO AD FREE\\!](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/st\/AlterNet_Plus_Signup)\n- [SUPPORT OUR WORK](https:\/\/kindest.com\/442355-defend-democracy-today-support-fearless-insightful-journalism)\n\n1. [Home](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/) \\|\n2. [Former KGB spy makes explosive claims Donald Trump](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/2021\/01\/trump-russia) \\|\n\n# Former KGB spy makes explosive claims Donald Trump\n![Former KGB spy makes explosive claims Donald Trump](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/media-library\/trump-came-closer-to-stealing-a-2nd-term-than-many-realize-here-s-what-really-stopped-him.jpg?id=25533241&width=1245&height=700&quality=50&coordinates=0%2C11%2C0%2C11)\n\nAmanda Marcotte\n\nTrump came closer to stealing a 2nd term than many realize — here's what really stopped him\n\n[Brad Reed, Common Dreams](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/author\/brad-reed)\n\nand\n\n[Raw Story](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/author\/raw-story)\n\nJanuary 29, 2021 \\| 08:35AM ETPush Notification\n\n[![BeLoud Share](https:\/\/play-lh.googleusercontent.com\/ihbH1YVhifEj1YYPkqcRYbTkzHRNI2TgoO5x6B_jy9yiD8-Et6RSF8NoF7zYc0YdJlwt)](https:\/\/www.beloud.com\/share?url=https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/2021\/01\/trump-russia&title=Former%20KGB%20spy%20makes%20explosive%20claims%20Donald%20Trump)\n\nA former spy for the KGB is making explosive claims about [Russia's efforts to \"cultivate\" former President Donald Trump](https:\/\/www.rawstory.com\/2018\/12\/hacked-emails-show-european-diplomats-mocked-trump-bizarre-helsinki-meeting-putin\/) as an intelligence asset.\n\nIn [an interview with the Guardian](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2021\/jan\/29\/trump-russia-asset-claims-former-kgb-spy-new-book), former KGB official Yuri Shvets claims that the then-Soviet government starting in the 1980s began to see Trump as a potential instrument for spreading [anti-NATO propaganda](https:\/\/www.rawstory.com\/2018\/07\/fox-news-shep-smith-rips-trump-nato-betrayal-putin-dreamed-long-time\/).\n\nIn fact, Shvets says that Soviet agents even planted the idea of running for office in Trump's head when he visited St. Petersburg and Moscow in 1987.\n\n\"For the KGB, it was a charm offensive,\" he explains. \"They had collected a lot of information on his personality so they knew who he was personally. The feeling was that he was extremely vulnerable intellectually, and psychologically, and he was prone to flattery.\"\n\nShortly after Trump's trip to the USSR, he took out a major advertisement in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Boston Globe, in which he questioned why America should be paying for the security of NATO countries.\n\n\"The bizarre intervention was cause for astonishment and jubilation in Russia,\" the Guardian writes. \"A few days later Shvets, who had returned home by now, was at the headquarters of the KGB's first chief directorate in Yasenevo when he received a cable celebrating the ad as a successful \"active measure\" executed by a new KGB asset.\"\n\nAlthough Trump throughout his first term was notoriously friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he also took multiple actions that angered the Kremlin, such as his decision to launch missiles into Russian ally Syria in 2017 for its use of chemical weapons on civilians.\n\nAuthor Craig Unger, who used Shvets as a key source for his upcoming book [American Kompromat](https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/American-Kompromat-Cultivated-Related-Treachery\/dp\/0593182537), tells the Guardian that Russia did not have some grand long-term conspiracy to make Trump president, but rather lucked into Trump's presidency through a series of unlikely events.\n\n\"It was not this grand, ingenious plan that we're going to develop this guy and 40 years later he'll be president,\" he says. \"At the time it started, which was around 1980, the Russians were trying to recruit like crazy and going after dozens and dozens of people.\"\n\nReport typos and corrections to: [feedback@alternet.org.](mailto:feedback@alternet.org)\n\n## [Do you feel Democrats can regain control of Congress in 2026?](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/trump-dc-2674272656\/)\n[Read Comments - Join the Discussion](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/2021\/01\/trump-russia?comments=disqus \"Load Comments\")\n\n[![](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/media-library\/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTExNTc3MS9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTgyOTAxODkzMX0.hYGcnBOyajn9TeuPvu8KPQsSyEPs65wRHsQb0qLys1M\/image.gif?width=330&height=75)]()\n\n## [Trump only has one option now](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/alternet-exclusives\/trumps-only-option-in-iran\/?anplus)\n## [Trump's next move could trap Americans as sitting ducks for a bloodbath](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/alternet-exclusives\/trump-s-next-move-could-trap-american-forces-in-a-bloodbath\/?anplus)\n## [What Republicans don't want you to know](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/alternet-exclusives\/republican-secrets\/?anplus)\n\nMOST POPULAR\n\n## [Trump only has one option now](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/alternet-exclusives\/trumps-only-option-in-iran\/)\n## [Fox News makes stunning break from Trump](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/msn\/trump-fox-news\/)\n## [New FBI notes suggest Epstein victims possibly sex-trafficked to Trump](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/trump-epstein-2676662175\/)\n## [Trump official 'ashamed he ever supported' defense secretary](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/pete-hegseth-iran\/)\n## [Heads rolling: Political expert says this is what 'panic' looks like](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/trump-firing-bondi-noem\/)\n## [Newly terrified DOJ targets an old Trump enemy](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/donald-trump-doj-enemies-list\/)\n## [Trump’s new app has no privacy policy and uses Russian software](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/trump-russia-ties\/)\n## [Trump official's blame game shot down by Fox News host](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/trump-gas-2676662409\/)\n## [Trump biographer predicts next 3 Cabinet members on the chopping block](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/trump-cabinet-2676661952\/)\n## [Trump’s solicitor general 'just lying' to the Supreme Court: legal experts](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/supreme-court-trump-2676660104\/)\n\nTrending Topics\n\n- [george conway](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/2020\/08\/watch-george-conway-realize-trump-is-a-malignant-narcissist\/)\n- [noam chomsky](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/2020\/08\/noam-chomsky-we-are-racing-madly-towards-total-catastrophe-under-the-leadership-of-sociopathic-fanatics\/)\n- [civil war](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/2020\/10\/second-american-civil-war\/)\n- [Kayleigh mcenany](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/2020\/10\/is-kayleigh-mcenany-sending-secret-messages-to-qanon-heres-what-one-gop-senator-noticed\/)\n- [Melania trump](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/2020\/11\/the-time-has-come-report-says-melania-trump-told-husband-to-accept-defeat\/)\n- [drudge report](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/2020\/09\/cant-afford-to-lose-drudge-report-takes-on-trump\/)\n- [paul krugman](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/2020\/08\/paul-krugman-explains-how-life-is-getting-rapidly-worse-for-millions-of-americans-as-the-gop-cheers-the-stock-market\/)\n- [Lindsey graham](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/2020\/10\/a-fox-host-threw-lindsey-graham-under-the-bus\/)\n- [Lincoln project](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/2020\/08\/lincoln-project-only-needed-19-words-to-show-these-4-fatal-flaws-with-trumps-payroll-tax-holiday\/)\n- [al franken bill maher](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/2020\/10\/bill-maher-al-franken\/)\n- [People of praise](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/2020\/09\/meet-people-of-praise-heres-why-this-far-right-cult-shouldnt-be-allowed-anywhere-near-the-supreme-court\/)\n- [Ivanka trump](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/2020\/10\/ivanka-trump-could-be-targeted-for-multiple-corruption-investigations-after-her-dad-leaves-office\/)\n- [eric trump](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/2020\/09\/watch-eric-trump-clumsily-claimed-the-lgbtq-community-loves-his-father-it-did-not-go-well\/)\n\n{{ post.roar\\_specific\\_data.api\\_data.analytics }}\n\nMOST POPULAR\n\n## [Trump only has one option now](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/alternet-exclusives\/trumps-only-option-in-iran\/)\n## [Trump's 'chest-beating fiesta of blood and guts' masks his real reason for war on Iran](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/trump-iran-war-economy\/)\n## ['They hate you. Everybody hates you': Carville delivers a newsflash to the White House](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/trump-iran-war-republicans-midterms\/)\n## [Heads rolling: Political expert says this is what 'panic' looks like](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/trump-firing-bondi-noem\/)\n## [Newly terrified DOJ targets an old Trump enemy](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/donald-trump-doj-enemies-list\/)\n## [New FBI notes suggest Epstein victims possibly sex-trafficked to Trump](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/trump-epstein-2676662175\/)\n## [Fox News makes stunning break from Trump](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/msn\/trump-fox-news\/)\n## [He'll 'burn': Former agent declares 'no integrity' Todd Blanche is doomed](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/bondi-todd-blanche-donald-trump\/)\n## [This doom loop is the power behind the throne on which Trump sits](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/this-doom-loop-is-the-power-behind-the-throne-on-which-trump-sits\/)\n## [Concerned 'strangers' had to protect terrified Duggar girls from family men: report](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/duggar-family-daughters\/)\n\n[Contact](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/contact)[Advertise with AlterNet](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/2020\/09\/advertise-with-alternet-2647452698\/)[Privacy Policy](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/2018\/12\/privacy-policy)[Writer Guidelines](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/2020\/09\/writer-guidelines-2647452912\/)[Press Information](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/2020\/09\/press-information-2647452975\/)[About AlterNet](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/about-alternet)[Meet the AlterNet Staff](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/2020\/09\/meet-the-alternet-staff-2647453134\/)[Debug Logs](https:\/\/www.alternet.org\/st\/Debug_Logs)\n\n@2026 - AlterNet Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. - \"Poynter\" fonts provided by fontsempire.com.","attrs_readable_markdown":"A former spy for the KGB is making explosive claims about [Russia's efforts to \"cultivate\" former President Donald Trump](https:\/\/www.rawstory.com\/2018\/12\/hacked-emails-show-european-diplomats-mocked-trump-bizarre-helsinki-meeting-putin\/) as an intelligence asset.\n\nIn [an interview with the Guardian](https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2021\/jan\/29\/trump-russia-asset-claims-former-kgb-spy-new-book), former KGB official Yuri Shvets claims that the then-Soviet government starting in the 1980s began to see Trump as a potential instrument for spreading [anti-NATO propaganda](https:\/\/www.rawstory.com\/2018\/07\/fox-news-shep-smith-rips-trump-nato-betrayal-putin-dreamed-long-time\/).\n\nIn fact, Shvets says that Soviet agents even planted the idea of running for office in Trump's head when he visited St. Petersburg and Moscow in 1987.\n\n\"For the KGB, it was a charm offensive,\" he explains. \"They had collected a lot of information on his personality so they knew who he was personally. The feeling was that he was extremely vulnerable intellectually, and psychologically, and he was prone to flattery.\"\n\nShortly after Trump's trip to the USSR, he took out a major advertisement in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Boston Globe, in which he questioned why America should be paying for the security of NATO countries.\n\n\"The bizarre intervention was cause for astonishment and jubilation in Russia,\" the Guardian writes. \"A few days later Shvets, who had returned home by now, was at the headquarters of the KGB's first chief directorate in Yasenevo when he received a cable celebrating the ad as a successful \"active measure\" executed by a new KGB asset.\"\n\nAlthough Trump throughout his first term was notoriously friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he also took multiple actions that angered the Kremlin, such as his decision to launch missiles into Russian ally Syria in 2017 for its use of chemical weapons on civilians.\n\nAuthor Craig Unger, who used Shvets as a key source for his upcoming book [American Kompromat](https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/American-Kompromat-Cultivated-Related-Treachery\/dp\/0593182537), tells the Guardian that Russia did not have some grand long-term conspiracy to make Trump president, but rather lucked into Trump's presidency through a series of unlikely events.\n\n\"It was not this grand, ingenious plan that we're going to develop this guy and 40 years later he'll be president,\" he says. \"At the time it started, which was around 1980, the Russians were trying to recruit like crazy and going after dozens and dozens of people.\"","meta_canonical":null}

3. Robots.txt Check

Query:

Response:

4. Spam/Ban Check

Query:

Response:

5. Seen Status Check

ℹ️ Skipped - page is already crawled

📄

INDEXABLE

✅

CRAWLED

6 days ago

🤖

ROBOTS ALLOWED

Page Info Filters

Filter	Status	Condition	Details
HTTP status	PASS	`download_http_code = 200`	HTTP 200
Age cutoff	PASS	`download_stamp > now() - 6 MONTH`	0.2 months ago
History drop	PASS	`isNull(history_drop_reason)`	No drop reason
Spam/ban	PASS	`fh_dont_index != 1 AND ml_spam_score = 0`	ml_spam_score=0
Canonical	PASS	`meta_canonical IS NULL OR = '' OR = src_unparsed`	Not set

Page Details

Property	Value
URL	https://www.alternet.org/2021/01/trump-russia
Last Crawled	2026-04-08 06:27:10 (6 days ago)
First Indexed	2022-12-06 04:30:40 (3 years ago)
HTTP Status Code	200
Meta Title	Former KGB spy makes explosive claims Donald Trump - Alternet.org
Meta Description	A former spy for the KGB is making explosive claims about Russia's efforts to "cultivate" former President Donald Trump as an intelligence asset.In an interview with the Guardian, former KGB official Yuri Shvets claims that the then-Soviet government starting in the 1980s began to see Trump as a pot...
Meta Canonical	null
Boilerpipe Text	A former spy for the KGB is making explosive claims about Russia's efforts to "cultivate" former President Donald Trump as an intelligence asset. In an interview with the Guardian , former KGB official Yuri Shvets claims that the then-Soviet government starting in the 1980s began to see Trump as a potential instrument for spreading anti-NATO propaganda . In fact, Shvets says that Soviet agents even planted the idea of running for office in Trump's head when he visited St. Petersburg and Moscow in 1987. "For the KGB, it was a charm offensive," he explains. "They had collected a lot of information on his personality so they knew who he was personally. The feeling was that he was extremely vulnerable intellectually, and psychologically, and he was prone to flattery." Shortly after Trump's trip to the USSR, he took out a major advertisement in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Boston Globe, in which he questioned why America should be paying for the security of NATO countries. "The bizarre intervention was cause for astonishment and jubilation in Russia," the Guardian writes. "A few days later Shvets, who had returned home by now, was at the headquarters of the KGB's first chief directorate in Yasenevo when he received a cable celebrating the ad as a successful "active measure" executed by a new KGB asset." Although Trump throughout his first term was notoriously friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he also took multiple actions that angered the Kremlin, such as his decision to launch missiles into Russian ally Syria in 2017 for its use of chemical weapons on civilians. Author Craig Unger, who used Shvets as a key source for his upcoming book American Kompromat , tells the Guardian that Russia did not have some grand long-term conspiracy to make Trump president, but rather lucked into Trump's presidency through a series of unlikely events. "It was not this grand, ingenious plan that we're going to develop this guy and 40 years later he'll be president," he says. "At the time it started, which was around 1980, the Russians were trying to recruit like crazy and going after dozens and dozens of people."
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[Former KGB spy makes explosive claims Donald Trump](https://www.alternet.org/2021/01/trump-russia) \\| # Former KGB spy makes explosive claims Donald Trump ![Former KGB spy makes explosive claims Donald Trump](https://www.alternet.org/media-library/trump-came-closer-to-stealing-a-2nd-term-than-many-realize-here-s-what-really-stopped-him.jpg?id=25533241&width=1245&height=700&quality=50&coordinates=0%2C11%2C0%2C11) Amanda Marcotte Trump came closer to stealing a 2nd term than many realize — here's what really stopped him [Brad Reed, Common Dreams](https://www.alternet.org/author/brad-reed) and [Raw Story](https://www.alternet.org/author/raw-story) January 29, 2021 \\| 08:35AM ETPush Notification [![BeLoud Share](https://play-lh.googleusercontent.com/ihbH1YVhifEj1YYPkqcRYbTkzHRNI2TgoO5x6B_jy9yiD8-Et6RSF8NoF7zYc0YdJlwt)](https://www.beloud.com/share?url=https://www.alternet.org/2021/01/trump-russia&title=Former%20KGB%20spy%20makes%20explosive%20claims%20Donald%20Trump) A former spy for the KGB is making explosive claims about [Russia's efforts to "cultivate" former President Donald Trump](https://www.rawstory.com/2018/12/hacked-emails-show-european-diplomats-mocked-trump-bizarre-helsinki-meeting-putin/) as an intelligence asset. In [an interview with the Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/29/trump-russia-asset-claims-former-kgb-spy-new-book), former KGB official Yuri Shvets claims that the then-Soviet government starting in the 1980s began to see Trump as a potential instrument for spreading [anti-NATO propaganda](https://www.rawstory.com/2018/07/fox-news-shep-smith-rips-trump-nato-betrayal-putin-dreamed-long-time/). In fact, Shvets says that Soviet agents even planted the idea of running for office in Trump's head when he visited St. Petersburg and Moscow in 1987. "For the KGB, it was a charm offensive," he explains. "They had collected a lot of information on his personality so they knew who he was personally. The feeling was that he was extremely vulnerable intellectually, and psychologically, and he was prone to flattery." Shortly after Trump's trip to the USSR, he took out a major advertisement in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Boston Globe, in which he questioned why America should be paying for the security of NATO countries. "The bizarre intervention was cause for astonishment and jubilation in Russia," the Guardian writes. "A few days later Shvets, who had returned home by now, was at the headquarters of the KGB's first chief directorate in Yasenevo when he received a cable celebrating the ad as a successful "active measure" executed by a new KGB asset." Although Trump throughout his first term was notoriously friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he also took multiple actions that angered the Kremlin, such as his decision to launch missiles into Russian ally Syria in 2017 for its use of chemical weapons on civilians. Author Craig Unger, who used Shvets as a key source for his upcoming book [American Kompromat](https://www.amazon.com/American-Kompromat-Cultivated-Related-Treachery/dp/0593182537), tells the Guardian that Russia did not have some grand long-term conspiracy to make Trump president, but rather lucked into Trump's presidency through a series of unlikely events. "It was not this grand, ingenious plan that we're going to develop this guy and 40 years later he'll be president," he says. "At the time it started, which was around 1980, the Russians were trying to recruit like crazy and going after dozens and dozens of people." 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Readable Markdown	A former spy for the KGB is making explosive claims about [Russia's efforts to "cultivate" former President Donald Trump](https://www.rawstory.com/2018/12/hacked-emails-show-european-diplomats-mocked-trump-bizarre-helsinki-meeting-putin/) as an intelligence asset. In [an interview with the Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/29/trump-russia-asset-claims-former-kgb-spy-new-book), former KGB official Yuri Shvets claims that the then-Soviet government starting in the 1980s began to see Trump as a potential instrument for spreading [anti-NATO propaganda](https://www.rawstory.com/2018/07/fox-news-shep-smith-rips-trump-nato-betrayal-putin-dreamed-long-time/). In fact, Shvets says that Soviet agents even planted the idea of running for office in Trump's head when he visited St. Petersburg and Moscow in 1987. "For the KGB, it was a charm offensive," he explains. "They had collected a lot of information on his personality so they knew who he was personally. The feeling was that he was extremely vulnerable intellectually, and psychologically, and he was prone to flattery." Shortly after Trump's trip to the USSR, he took out a major advertisement in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Boston Globe, in which he questioned why America should be paying for the security of NATO countries. "The bizarre intervention was cause for astonishment and jubilation in Russia," the Guardian writes. "A few days later Shvets, who had returned home by now, was at the headquarters of the KGB's first chief directorate in Yasenevo when he received a cable celebrating the ad as a successful "active measure" executed by a new KGB asset." Although Trump throughout his first term was notoriously friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he also took multiple actions that angered the Kremlin, such as his decision to launch missiles into Russian ally Syria in 2017 for its use of chemical weapons on civilians. Author Craig Unger, who used Shvets as a key source for his upcoming book [American Kompromat](https://www.amazon.com/American-Kompromat-Cultivated-Related-Treachery/dp/0593182537), tells the Guardian that Russia did not have some grand long-term conspiracy to make Trump president, but rather lucked into Trump's presidency through a series of unlikely events. "It was not this grand, ingenious plan that we're going to develop this guy and 40 years later he'll be president," he says. "At the time it started, which was around 1980, the Russians were trying to recruit like crazy and going after dozens and dozens of people."
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