The Foreign Influence Meltdown No One Is Talking About

America dismantled its anti-disinfo defenses...just as a Trump envoy was caught aligning with Russia. Here’s the architecture behind the danger.

The Foreign Influence Meltdown No One Is Talking About

America dismantled its anti-disinfo defenses...just as a Trump envoy was caught aligning with Russia. Here’s the architecture behind the danger.

The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #672: Tuesday, 11:20 PM (Central) December 2nd, 2025.

America didn’t just get blindsided.
It turned off the alarms… right as the burglars…walked through the door.

This isn’t hyperbole.
This isn’t a metaphor.
This is exactly what happened over the last eight months…in real time…while the press covered each piece in isolation…like disconnected sparks…instead of a spreading fire.

Today…I’m going to show you the part they’re missing:

the architecture…
the sequence…
the intent…
and the danger behind a story that’s somehow been hiding in plain sight.

So let’s start with the first blow…the match that lit the fuse.

The Day America Dropped Its Shield

Back in April…while most people were debating culture-war noise and election gossip.. the U.S. State Department quietly killed the one office responsible for tracking:

• foreign propaganda

• election interference

• Russian…Chinese…and Iranian information ops

• coordinated influence campaigns targeting Americans

• online psychological warfare

• foreign manipulation of U.S. officials

It was called the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference Office.

CFIMI.

The firewall.

The early-warning radar.

Our country’s last remaining “don’t get played by foreign intelligence” mechanism.

Career officials warned that shutting it down would:

• leave America “largely defenseless” in the information domain

• remove our ability to detect coordinated influence operations

• give foreign adversaries an open lane to manipulate U.S. politics

You probably didn’t hear about it.

That’s not an accident.

When you tear down the guardrails…you don’t send out a press release.

The Second Blow: The Leak That Changed Everything

Fast-forward a few months.

A story breaks:

A leaked call between a Kremlin aide and Steve Witkoff…Trump’s handpicked envoy.

Not a staffer.
Not a volunteer.
Not a guy lost on Telegram DM.

A designated representative of Donald J. Trump in live diplomatic discussions.

In that call (confirmed by Reuters, The Guardian, WaPo):

• Witkoff appears to coach Russia

• He suggests how the Kremlin should frame their Ukraine messaging for American audiences

• He advises them how to shape U.S. public opinion

• He effectively aligns U.S.-side messaging with Moscow’s narrative

That’s not diplomacy.

That’s messaging coordination.

Republicans and Democrats both reacted with shock:

• “Traitor.”

• “Violation.”

• “Unprecedented breach.”

• “What the hell is going on?”

Russia’s response?
They called the leak “hybrid warfare.”

Translation:
“You caught us in a coordinated information operation.”

And here’s the part nobody is connecting:

Russia isn’t calling the U.S. the victim.
Russia is saying the leak itself hurt them…meaning this was a coordinated effort they were actively running with a U.S. envoy… and the leak disrupted it.

I want you to read that again:

…meaning this was a coordinated effort they (Russia) were actively running with a U.S. envoy… and the leak disrupted it.

That…should turn your blood cold.

The Third Blow: Trump Steps Away From Official Diplomacy

Right after the leak?

Trump publicly steps back from the Ukraine peace process…
and sends his own envoys to handle it outside normal diplomatic channels.

State Department sidelined.
CFIMI dismantled.
No U.S. oversight.
No guardrails.
No chain of accountability.
No intelligence-community cross-checks.

Everything foreign adversaries want in a negotiation.

All happening at the exact moment our protection systems are offline.

Coincidence?

You already know the answer.

The Fourth Blow: China And Russia Ramp Up Information Warfare

While the U.S. pulls down its defenses…foreign adversaries are doing the opposite:

• China is running aggressive psychological operations in the Philippines

• Russia is testing U.S. political vulnerabilities

• Iran is pushing influence ops on social media

• Disinformation campaigns are ramping up globally

And with CFIMI gone…there is:

• no coordinated defense

• no early detection

• no unified response

• no inter-agency firewall

• no monitoring of manipulation targeting American voters or officials

This is like tearing the sensors off a nuclear facility…right before an adversary tests your perimeter.

The Fifth Blow: The Sudden Silence In Trump’s Orbit

After the leak?

Silence.

Not strategic messaging.
Not coordinated pushback.
Not denial.

Just…
silence.

That’s not how innocent people act when they’re accused of aiding a foreign adversary.

That’s how people act when:

1. They’re caught

2. They don’t know what else is leaked

3. They’re waiting to see what intelligence agencies know

4. They’re terrified of saying the wrong thing

5. They’ve overplayed their hand

This is fear silence.
Not power silence.

It’s the quiet of someone who realizes
they’ve been speaking too freely…
to the wrong people…
in the wrong channel…
at the worst possible time.

The Translator’s Guide: What This Actually Means

Here is the architecture in one line:

America dismantled its information-warfare defenses…and foreign adversaries immediately exploited the opening…with a Trump envoy aligning messaging with Moscow.

That is not a conspiracy.

That is not theoretical.

That is the documented timeline.

It is also exactly what Russia and China have been hoping for:

• weaken American counterintelligence

• isolate U.S. institutions

• exploit private channels

• leverage friendly intermediaries

• shape U.S. public opinion

• pull U.S. policy into their orbit

This isn’t happening by accident.
This is a coordinated influence environment.

And this is how democracies collapse:
not with tanks on Day One…
but with information war…on Day Zero.

Now…here’s the part I can’t responsibly publish publicly.
Not yet.

Because while the press reported pieces of this story…
nobody has touched the real question:

Who gave the order to dismantle America’s anti-disinfo defenses…
and why did it happen months before a Trump envoy began coordinating messaging with the Kremlin?

Paid subscribers:
I’m about to show you:

• who benefits

• why the timing was perfect

• the foreign-policy angle almost no one sees

• the psychological profile of the actors involved

• the national-security professionals raising quiet alarms

• how this fits a global authoritarian playbook step-by-step

• crazy stuff…even more concerning..than all THAT

There is a reason this story is silent in the mainstream.
Because once you see how the pieces line up…
you cannot unsee it.

Paid readers…your breakdown drops next. Mid-Day tomorrow, Wednesday, December 3rd, 2025.

If the pieces you’ve just read disturb you… good. (remember…you can absolutely be deeply disturbed…without also being overcome with fear. In fact, I suggest that’s exactly how you do it.)
They’re supposed to.
Because this isn’t a headline…it’s a pattern. And patterns…don’t break themselves.

The real danger…the part the mainstream hasn’t connected…is waiting on the other side of today’s article.

Paid subscribers:
I’m opening that door next…tomorrow.

If you’re feeling that something just clicked into place while reading this… trust that.

It’s not an accident.

Most people skim headlines.
Most people scroll past the surface.
Most people absorb a scattering of facts…without ever seeing the structure underneath.

But right now…you’re not doing that.
You’re connecting patterns your brain has probably been noticing subconsciously for weeks.
You’re recognizing motives…timing…leverage…and psychology…that most people never even think to look for.

And that shift…that mental tightening of the lens…is the exact moment where understanding turns into clarity.

When you start to see the architecture behind events…something important happens:

You stop reacting to chaos…and you start reading it.

Very few people get to that point.

You just did.

And if this brief look into the pattern opened something up for you…if you can already feel yourself making sense of this story faster…sharper…cleaner than the average person scrolling past…then you’re exactly the kind of reader the next part is written for.

Because the deeper dive?
That’s where the picture stops being complicated… and becomes undeniable.

If you’re ready for that level of clarity…
come on in.

#HoldFast

Back soon,

-Jack

P.S.
Earlier tonight…well after dark…I snapped this picture with my phone while I was outside with the dogs. The illumination? Pure moonlight…both from above…and it reflecting upward…from the snow. I love the simple beauty in life.