The media is calling a particular Trump admin figure incompetent, but it's all a carefully orchestrated tactic, according to Trump's former "operative."

Former Trump associate Lev Parnas, who says he used to be "deep inside the Trump machine" and now reports from the outside, published an article on Saturday called, "Witkoff Exposed — Trump’s Envoy Revealed as Kremlin Pawn," in which he wrote that the president's "fixer plays theatrics for Putin, trading peace for Russia’s power and money."

Parnas is referring to real estate investor-turned-international negotiator Steve Witkoff, who has recently been referred to as a "rogue actor."

According to Parnas, the media is being played for a fool by the Trump admin.

The ex-insider wrote that, "The media is trying to portray Trump’s 'special envoy' Steve Witkoff as incompetent and botching meetings and confusing Moscow’s lies with reality."

"But you know who the real Steve Witkoff is, because for months I’ve been telling you — and now the world is beginning to see it too. My sources are telling me that after a meeting in New York between Andriy Yermak, Sergiy Kyslytsya, and Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, the Ukrainians are now more convinced than ever that Witkoff is nothing more than another useful idiot for the Kremlin," Parnas wrote. "Politico and others report how U.S., Ukrainian, and European officials are all frustrated with him. He refuses to consult experts. He shows up unprepared. He parrots back nonsense after sitting with Putin. One day he believes Russia will give up territory; the next he thinks they agreed to NATO-style security guarantees. It’s chaos — but don’t be fooled into thinking it’s just incompetence."

He continued, saying, "Let me make it very clear, Witkoff isn’t confused. He’s obsessed."

"Like Trump, he came up in the real estate world of the 1990s, making money with the same Russian oligarchs who answer directly to the Kremlin. They were both swimming in Moscow’s dirty money long before Ukraine was ever on the headlines," Parnas added. "That’s why I tell you: the real deals aren’t happening in public. They’re not in the leaks you see. They’re not in Witkoff’s babbling reports. The real manipulations are happening behind closed doors with his handler, Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s fixer."

Parnas also said, "Don’t listen when the media tells you Witkoff is 'confused.' That’s the cover story. This isn’t confusion. It’s a deliberate stalling tactic. A distraction. A way to buy time while Russia pounds Ukraine with drones and missiles."

Read the full post on Substack here.