Laura Loomer, who became widely known for spreading conspiracy theories online, says a trip across Ukraine has led her to acknowledge that she accepted false claims about the country and Russia’s yearslong war against it.

Loomer, a close ally of President Donald Trump, has sharply reversed her long-running criticism of Ukraine and is now urging conservatives to be cautious about Moscow’s propaganda. She said Russian messaging has misled large parts of the American right.

“You don’t need to listen to a podcaster and let them influence your opinion about a country. You can look at those facts yourself,” Loomer told The Associated Press in Kyiv after returning from a visit near the front line in eastern Ukraine. The interview was initially scheduled to take place at her hotel, but it was moved to the building’s underground bomb shelter as Kyiv faced another ballistic missile attack.

Although Loomer holds no official position, she has remained influential with Trump. She said she spoke with him by phone after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and said she expects to meet Trump after returning from Ukraine.

Ukrainian leaders have welcomed Loomer’s reversal at a time when their relationship with Trump has at times been strained. In the United States, however, her shift has generated confusion, surprise and suspicion. Loomer has repeatedly insisted that Ukraine is not funding her travel.

The attention around Loomer’s visit reflects a broader challenge for Ukraine: support in Washington is shaped not only by formal diplomacy but also by media figures and online political communities that influence how the war is discussed among Trump’s supporters.

Trump and Zelenskyy are preparing to meet Tuesday in Washington. Loomer said she believes her trip has already had an effect by drawing renewed attention to the war as Congress debates new sanctions designed to punish Russia.

“It’s looking good for Ukraine, right?” she said. “Going into this meeting next week at the Oval Office is looking pretty good.”

For years, Loomer minimized the war and amplified Russian propaganda before making a public reversal this week.

“I’ve come to realize I was bamboozled by Russian propaganda and I came to believe a lot of untrue things about Ukraine. I used to think that this was a country full of Nazis,” Loomer told Zelenskyy while interviewing him for her show on Rumble, the online video platform.

Loomer attributed what she called her indoctrination in part to being banned from major American social media platforms, which led her to use Telegram, where Russian media is widely distributed.

“The Russians,” she said, “are very good at capitalizing on people’s rage. And I was very angry,” referring to her views after the 2020 election, which she continues to falsely claim was stolen from Trump despite evidence to the contrary.

She said her change in perspective happened gradually, as she watched podcasters such as Tucker Carlson “turn on President Trump” while their rhetoric was amplified by Russian sources.

Loomer, who describes herself as an independent journalist, told the AP that she believes her reversal is already affecting views inside Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement.

“Oh, 100%,” she said. “I’ve received messages all day from different people and media and politics and people just who follow me online who said, ’Wow, I didn’t realize how much we’ve been lied to.’ ‘Wow you really opened my eyes.’”

Ukrainian officials appeared to see an opportunity in winning over a prominent Trump supporter with a large online following. Along with her interview with Zelenskyy, Loomer met senior Ukrainian officials and the country’s chief rabbi.

“It takes courage to come to Ukraine and not be deterred by Russian propaganda or air raid sirens,” Zelenskyy’s office wrote on social media.

Loomer also toured the Dormition Cathedral of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a monastic complex that came under Russian attack last month.

“Laura is very powerful and she’s a very authoritative in the U.S., so I hope that everything she has seen by her own eyes will help her to spread the truth when she is back at the U.S.,” Tetyana Berezhna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister and minister of culture, told the AP. “I do really hope and I believe that her visit will have a huge impact on relations with the U.S. administration.”

Some have sought to minimize Loomer’s influence with Trump, but he has often acted on her advice. She occasionally traveled with him during the 2024 campaign, and last year he purged his National Security Council staff after she raised concerns about their loyalty during an Oval Office meeting.

Trump appeared to be following Loomer’s trip, sharing video of her discussion with Zelenskyy on social media.

“Very good!!!” he wrote Thursday evening.

Loomer has a long record of promoting conspiracy theories. She once shared a video calling 9/11 an “inside job” and amplified a false claim that Haitian immigrants were eating dogs and cats in Ohio, a claim Trump later repeated during a presidential debate with Kamala Harris.

Even as Loomer has changed her position on Russia’s invasion, her bigoted views have remained visible.

“One thing I really love about Ukraine is I haven’t seen a single Muslim here,” she posted Saturday. “It’s so refreshing.”

In the AP interview, however, Loomer criticized the ability of influential podcasters to spread misinformation.

“They have been able to warp people’s minds to the point where people aren’t even capable of analyzing a subject with common sense anymore because they want to depend on these personalities to give them the opinion that they think they should have,” she said, describing the situation as “a major national security threat.”

Loomer said she believes “information war” has “the potential to be more destructive than any kinetic war that our country may ever face.” She called on the Trump administration to take the threat of Russian propaganda, foreign interference and influence operations more seriously.

“I think that some of our leaders are being influenced by propaganda,” she said.

The White House has frequently downplayed Moscow’s influence, particularly because Trump has long bristled at investigations that found Russia worked to support his 2016 candidacy.

That history makes Loomer’s new message notable, even to critics who question her credibility: she is framing Russian influence not as a partisan grievance but as a security concern for the same political movement in which she has built much of her audience.

Loomer has repeatedly said Ukraine did not pay for her trip and maintained that she traveled in her own capacity.

“I can guarantee you I wasn’t paid by anybody. I certainly wasn’t paid by the government of Ukraine to come here,” she said.

“If it’s fake, why did I risk my life? I’m in a bomb shelter right now. I barely slept this week,” she said.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com