Former CIA station chief distills Putin's approach to Trump
Former CIA station chief distills Putin's approach to Trump  
Podcast: Sources & Methods
Published On: Mon Oct 20 2025
Description: Rob Dannenberg understands Vladimir Putin. He was CIA station chief in Moscow and served as the chief of operations for CIA's Counterterrorism Center. He now works as an independent consultant on geopolitical and security risk and is the co-author of A Spy Walked Into A Bar: A Practitioner's Guide to Cocktail Tradecraft. Dannenberg speaks to Mary Louise Kelly about Putin's endgame in Ukraine, his approach with President Trump, and what cocktails and espionage have in common. We're back with a new episode on Thursday. Email the show at sourcesandmethods@npr.orgNPR+ supporters hear every episode without sponsor messages and unlock access to our complete archive. Sign up at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy