Russian President Vladimir Putin. Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters Russian officials got disillusioned with the U.S. aggressive foreign policy, while bilateral ties are now “even worse than Cold War”, according to the Kremlin spokesman Dmitriy Peskov.

In effect, Trump administration’s tough posture toward Russia brings the new tune on him throughout state-run media.

Television remains the primary source of information for 86% of Russians with almost 60% relying on it according to Levada polls, the independent research center.

Therefore, agenda of most channels with few exceptions of the cable ones regulated by the state with political events securing an utmost importance.

In March, thousands of anti-corruption demonstrators rushed to the streets of Moscow and major cities. But the state-run media refused to cover the rallies until the next day. The reporting was aired only after Peskov accused protest organizers on leading “virtually children astray with lies and provocations”, while media further projected a picture of the fifth column’s attempts to sabotage political stability.

Close coordination between the Kremlin and state-run media draws analogies of latter serving as an extension of its press-office. Mr. Putin reportedly personally handpicked Dmitry Kiselyov, a host who runs the country’s most popular weekly current affairs show. Kiselyov later become known for stark threats to turn “the United States into radioactive ash” and calls to “burn gay hearts”.

Kiselyov’s tune on covering Trump is a curious one for pinpointing to the Kremlin’s gradual disillusionment with the American leader.

In January, the anchor announced that “there probably wasn’t a nation on Earth that watched Donald Trump’s US presidential bid more closely than Russians”.

A woman passes a billboard showing a pictures of US president-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Danilovgrad, Montenegro, November 2016. Stevo Vasiljevic/Reuters During the presidential campaign and its aftermath, Trump was universally portrayed as a maverick. Deemed as a winner of a fair struggle and capable to challenge power monopoly of America’s “deep state” bankrupt elites and U.S. political parties.

Hillary Clinton, in contrast, was portrayed as a literal evil seeking to continue the Obama’s policy for isolating Russia and incapable to launch another “reset”. In effect, the state-run media explicitly rooted for Trump to defeat her.

An announcement that he had won the presidential race was met by bursts of loud applauses in the State Duma. Russia’s ultranationalist and Liberal Democrat boss Vladimir Zhirinovsky later congratulated Trump “on a well-deserved victory” and pompously wished “grandmother Hillary to take some rest now”.

State-run media joined the race with political pundits on the Vladimir Solovyov talk show, major show for political debates, named Trump as the only hope for Russia and the world’s better future. He was also constantly depicted as “ours” in references to being a Manchurian candidate in the White House for sharing Russia’s values.

The rhetoric towards the Trump’s presidency remained enthusiastic; as it was contrasted to the Obamas, whose influence was a recurring topic all along first months. The former president was portrayed as a villain and a part of political groups running anti-Russian attitudes throughout Washington.

Nevertheless, with the strike on al-Shayrat air base, hawkish approach to Syria and Trump calling Assad an “animal”, the attitude started to shift. Many Russian officials now concerned that Syria might turn into another Vietnam when the Soviets fought a proxy war against the Americans. The latter could be potentially embarrassing for the Kremlin, as it worked hard on polishing an image of Syria as a platform for U.S.-Russia reconciliation for the cause of “a good war against ISIS”.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad attends an interview with Russian state television, in this handout picture provided by SANA on December 14, 2016, Syria. SANA/Reuters Meanwhile, initially there was a room for speculations that Trump’s new stance on Syria is due to stop collapsing ratings domestically and whitewash the assistants’ connections to the Russian officials – the state-run media eventually switched to the new tune on him.

During the recent show, Kiselyov compared Trump’s actions to the sheriff’s rule by Erle Gardner, renowned American author: “Shoot first, ask questions later”. He added that Trump’s actions resemble those of “neophytes of international politics who have no victories or defeats behind their backs, and no experience in international politics, tabula rasa”.

Political pundits on Vladimir Solovyev’s likewise joined the race. Foreign Affairs Committee member Vyacheslav Nikonov, whose announcements of Trump’s victory in November caused bursts of applauses in State Duma was the first to attack Trump by saying that “perhaps (Trump’s) one brain hemisphere doesn’t know what another is up to”. Nostalgia for the Obama’s days took few occasions throughout the show and was an elephant in the room.

Vladimir Putin later expressed the sentiments of indirectly missing the Obama’s days during an interview broadcast by state television channel Mir. “It can be said that the level of trust at the working level, especially at the military level, has not become better but most likely has degraded,” Putin stated in describing U.S.-Russia relations since Trump took office.

Trump’s depiction is no longer as “ours” but an incompetent leader who has no idea of how to handling Russia and other global issues. A number of media also portrays him as incapable to carry decisions independently, while being easily tricked by the neoconservatives such as Steve Bannon, America’s “deep state” or his daughter Ivanka.

Part of the new image of Trump also goes in line with Putin’s own goals for the upcoming presidential elections in 2018. Earlier, state-media focused on Putin as a victorious president who defeated the West by bringing the global populists’ leader into the White House, nowadays, the imagery differs drastically.

Russian leader has now turned into a victim of Trump’s betrayal of the Kremlin’s benign efforts for better bilateral relations. In effect, Russia is becoming a “besieged fortress” once again surrounded by enemies on all sides who are even more vicious than the previous ones. Hence, only the experienced commander-in-chief should secure the authority to protect the motherland in the years to come.