Controversial figure: Laura Loomer is causing controversy even in the MAGA camp.Image: keystone
Influential 33-year-old MAGA influencer and close Trump ally Laura Loomer travels to Kiev and regrets her previous hate campaign against Ukraine. The effects are enormous.
July 23, 2026, 10:51 p.mJuly 23, 2026, 10:51 p.m
Laura Loomer’s visit to Kiev is developing into a political earthquake within the MAGA movement. The loyal ally of US President Donald Trump, who has positioned herself against Ukraine and spread Russian narratives for years, is publicly revising her stance – and even attacking prominent representatives of her own political camp.
The far-right US influencer, who already has 1.9 million followers on platform X, can count on the support of a broad fan base. Loomer explained on X that she used to be trapped in a “media echo chamber” and believed Russian propaganda. That’s why she now traveled to Ukraine to see for herself Vladimir Putin’s war of aggression.
Loomer thus underlines her change of sides, which she made for the first time in mid-June Video podcast «Loomer Unleashed” and which goes hand in hand with Donald Trump’s recent approach to Ukrainian perspectives. “I was wrong,” she now admits from the Ukrainian capital, and that’s why she feels “like the ultimate asshole.” At the same time, she emphasizes that her visit was not paid for by Ukraine, but was of her own free will.
A victim of Russian disinformation
According to his own statements, Loomer visited Butscha, among other things, and found out about Russian war crimes there. She was personally guided through the famous Kiev Monastery on Wednesday by the Ukrainian Minister of Culture Tetyana Berezhna.
A Russian air raid on Kiev, which she witnessed on Tuesday, was particularly formative for her. She then wrote that she was ashamed of having downplayed the suffering of Ukrainians for years. It was believed that Ukraine was a country full of Nazis: in fact, it had fallen victim to Russian disinformation.
As a sign of defiance, she published a picture of herself eating a cheeseburger in a McDonald’s in Kiev surrounded by rubble – even though she “never eats fast food.”
Laura Loomer poses in the McDonalds in Kyiv amidst the rubble of war.Image: x
Russia Targets American Businesses in Kyiv: Iconic McDonald’s Endures Repeated Attacks From Russian Ballistic Missiles Proving Russia’s Disdain For America
3 days ago, Russia launched 40 ballistic missiles into Kyiv, Ukraine, striking civilian districts in the Ukrainian… pic.twitter.com/2ijSmbhsYy
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) July 21, 2026
In a long tweet, Loomer describes her new stance on the distribution of roles in the Ukraine war.
Loomer’s turnaround now extends far beyond Ukraine. Not only does she accuse Russia of deliberately spreading disinformation together with Iran in order to divide the USA and the Republican Party. She also attacks parts of her own MAGA movement particularly sharply. Many conservative influencers and politicians allowed themselves to be exploited by Russia, Qatar or Iran and spread anti-American propaganda. Russia is doing “nothing positive for America”.
In another post, Loomer further intensified her criticism. She is beginning to realize that she “no longer likes” many of the Republicans she has gotten to know over the past twelve years. Some are simply ignorant, others may be paid. She has a special exchange of blows with Tucker Carlson over his latest podcast. In it, “Katarlson,” as Loomer mockingly calls him, claims that people hate Russians simply because “they are white.”
Praise from Ukraine, ridicule from Moscow
The reactions to these public confessions follow immediately. Volodymyr Zelensky’s presidential office and Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha expressly welcome Loomer’s visit. There is no better way to form your own opinion than to experience reality on the ground, Zelensky’s presidential office explained on X.
On the other hand, ridicule and malice come from Russia. The editor-in-chief of the state broadcaster Russia Today (RT), Margarita Simonyan, recalls Loomer’s previous, pro-Russian columns for RT. The broadcaster itself mocks her “transformation” and quotes from older articles in which she described Ukraine as a country full of “Nazi apologists”.
Loomer counters that she fell for Russian disinformation back then and that’s precisely why she wanted to keep her old posts online – as proof of how effective Putin’s information war is.
Reactions also vary within the Trump camp. While many MAGA representatives sharply criticize Loomer’s change of course and see it as just another publicity stunt, she receives support from Nate Vance, a Ukraine veteran and cousin of US Vice President JD Vance. It takes courage to publicly admit that you are wrong, he praises Loomer on X.
Other Ukraine supporters are more skeptical: Although their apology is generally welcome, after Loomer’s years-long anti-Zelensky campaign, it needs more to be truly credible, says one commentator. (schweiztoday.ch)
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