Throughout his administration, former President Donald Trump bore a gentle—if not complimentary—posture toward Russian President Vladimir Putin that stoked concern from critics and members of his administration alike.
As president and outside of the White House, Trump has repeatedly said he trusted Putin’s word over that of his own director of national intelligence, and reportedly had a congenial relationship with him through the final days of his presidency.
When Russia invaded Ukraine last winter, Trump described Putin as a “genius” while calling a war that has left thousands of people dead on both sides a “savvy” political move—building on a posture that earned Trump harsh rebukes even from his own secretary of state.
“An American partnership with Russia is a fool’s errand so long as Putin and his thugs are in power,” Mike Pompeo, his onetime secretary of state, wrote in a…
