Laura Loomer may not have an official position in the White House (or anywhere else), but she nevertheless has Donald Trump’s ear. Prior to 2025, the far-right media personality was perhaps best known for handcuffing herself to the headquarters of Twitter to protest her ban from the platform. (Her account was eventually unblocked, of course.)

Bizarrely, in the second Trump administration, she has become a major adviser to the president. Her latest move? Advocating for Ukraine. Loomer has been ultracritical of the nation, deeming it “full of Nazis” and calling its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, a dictator, a “fake Jew,” and a “Jihadi apologist.” Yet she recently visited the country and met with Zelensky‍—a conversation Trump reposted, signaling a potential pivot in U.S. policy toward Ukraine.

Ken Bensinger, a New York Times reporter who covers media and politics, wrote about this junket of Loomer’s. He notes that over the past four years, Ukraine has been fighting for its life. The war “is being fought on their territory,” he said. “They need to figure out a way to survive. A big part of that has to do with making sure that they get support from the West. And key to that is currying favor with the Trump administration.”

On a recent episode of What Next, host Mary Harris spoke to Bensinger about why Loomer’s trip to Ukraine was actually a big deal—maybe. This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Mary Harris: For context, can you give me a brief update on where we are with the Ukraine war? 

Ken Bensinger: To be clear, I’m not an expert on this. But essentially, the war started in February 2022, and we’re still in it. Russia thought it would steamroll to victory in a matter of weeks, and instead, it’s four and a half years later and it’s still grinding out. The casualty counts, if they’re to be believed, are horrendous on both sides, but particularly with the Russians: They’ve turned the front line into something of a human meat grinder for Russian conscripts. It’s been estimated that the time between someone being brought into the Russian military and dying on the front was something like a few months, on average. Just horrendous. These people are being sent to die. And Russia is bringing........

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