Trump’s Putin strategy has been a Rorschach test for as long as he has been in the political arena.
Some people see a man who is enamored with a powerful wanna-be Czar, and who, in consequence, collaborates with him at worst or, at best, gives him latitude which he would deny others not to mention the fact that tying Trump to Putin has been a key political strategy since 2015, smearing Trump as Putin’s lackey.
Others, like me, see a strategy to use flattery and express respect as a tool to create space for a dictator to work with us on areas of mutual interest and give room for him to give ground on issues without losing face.
As Trump has been trying to bring the Ukraine war to a close, he has, until very recently, soft-pedaled disagreements with Moscow and played hardball with Ukraine. But in the last few days, his tone has changed, taking aim at…
