Putin has no real ideology, which is part of the reason he has turned to conservative outposts like the Russian Orthodox Church to rally support as his rule enters its 17th year. What he does have is a desire to destroy those countries and institutions that, in his thinking, have conspired to keep Russia down. Funding and supporting insurgent parties in Europe is his way of chipping away at the European Union (on top of efforts, so far unsuccessful, to prevent the bloc from renewing sanctions on Russia over Ukraine). Supporting Trump is his effort to turn that approach on the U.S.
Trump’s antics have made the U.S. the laughing stock of the world, coupled with the idea that his cocky, xenophobic, uninformed pronouncements have revealed the country’s true face. Each week brings a new round of the circus, coupled with endless soul searching about what it all means (this week: either it will lead to Weimar America or the end of the Republican Party). This is the sort of chaos and destruction that Putin thrives on.
Putin supports Donald Trump because of the threat that Trump poses to the U.S.
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