Trump-Putin: the story of a strange friendship

Moscow"Do you think Putin is going to the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow? Will he be my new best friend?" This tweet from Donald Trump in 2013 sums up the US president's devotion to his Russian counterpart. Putin dumped him at the beauty pageant, but Trump spent the following months bragging that they had met and that he had treated her very well. The unidirectional praise continued to be repeated until the American tycoon entered the White House in 2016., while Putin carefully measured his words and only reciprocated the little flowers when it was strategically in his interest.

Proof of this is that, eight years later, aware that Trump's victory favors his interests, the Kremlin leader has opened the dispenser of good words towards his supposed adversary. He has even bought into some of the most controversial mantras, such as the false theory of electoral manipulation in 2020 or the claim that, With him as president of the United States, the war in Ukraine would not have even begun. And after Friday's scene in the Oval Office, with Trump and his vice president JDVance humiliating Volodymyr Zelensky and putting Russia's arguments on the table, it is clear that the American president feels much closer to Putin than to his Ukrainian counterpart.

Putin knows what he must give Trump to make him happy. That is why has begun to tempt him with joint business opportunities. And the American president listens, trusts and allows himself to be flattered. "They both have egos. They share an autocratic style, they despise modern Western values and they believe in the law of the strongest," Russian analyst Anton Barbashin told ARA, while warning that Trump is not aware of how far Putin will go to fight for what he wants.

An admiration that comes from afar

Long before he wanted to be friends with him, Trump had already publicly praised Putin. In 2000, in his bookThe America we deserve [The America We Deserve], the then businessman blessed the future president of Russia when he was just a candidate. He described him as "the strong leader that the country needed." As Trump's jump into politics approached, the praise rose in tone. In 2014 he hailed the annexation of Crimea as a "very smart" move. and contrasted Russian firmness in Syria with the alleged weakness of the US government. "We must show strength, Putin has stolen Obama's breakfast - our breakfast - for too long," he said, while criticising sanctions against Russia: "Putin is wounded, and wounded people and animals can do strange things; we better be careful." He even defended the Russian president against accusations of having authorised the murder of journalists and dissidents.

Putin waited during the US presidential campaign to reciprocate the flood of good words. It was enough for him to say that Trump was, "undoubtedly, an exceptional and talented person" to revolutionise the electoral race.

The Republican candidate accepted the praise with pleasure, but as the elections approached and he realised that the affinity with the Kremlin leader could subtract more than add, he tried to distance himself. In fact, he went so far as to say that had never met Putin and did not even know who he was.

Disappointment in Russia

Once elected, Trump was conciliatory in the face of evidence of Russia hacking the Democratic National Convention emails. "Putin will not do it again; he will respect us much more from now on," he said, in a new attempt not to alienate the Russian president and to trust him blindly. But the strategy of appeasement was blown up by accusations of Russian interference in the elections. Putin always denied them and even convinced Trump, who At the 2018 Russian-American summit in Helsinki, he exclaimed that he "believed in his word" and, therefore, that he did not believe in the words of the United States intelligence agencies.

During his first term, pressure within the Republican Party forced the American president to take a much tougher stance against Russia than he would have liked. He tightened sanctions for the annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbas, and for the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, while Putin was unable to secure any international agreement that would benefit him.

All of this disappointed the Russian elite, which had greeted Trump's first victory with euphoria, expecting him to lift sanctions and recognise Russian sovereignty over Crimea. For example, the ultra-nationalist politician Vladimir Khirinovski had 132 bottles of champagne bought to celebrate the Republican candidate's victory and toasted in front of the cameras. And the editor-in-chief of the Russia TodayMargarita Simonian said she would parade around Moscow with an American flag. But her joy soon came to an end.

Caution in the face of a new chapter

Perhaps that is why there is much more caution among Russian leaders this time. After the initial burst of joy that followed the restoration of relations, The Kremlin has had to warn state media to moderate their praise of Trump. According to the independent mediaViorstka, has ordered journalists to limit themselves to presenting him as someone who "has had the wisdom to respond to Russia's outstretched hand."

"Putin is trying to exploit Trump's desire to be seen as decisive," explains Alexander Baunov, an analyst at the Carnegie Russia-Eurasia Center. The Russian president is hedging his bets in case negotiations fail, while showing himself to be indulgent with his adversary to the point of calling him a "partner." And Trump is once again trusting his word and, convinced that he has much more to gain than to lose, is ideologically and shamelessly moving closer to Putin. Determined, now, not to back down.

As the correspondent of theNew York Timesin the White House, formerly Moscow correspondent Pete Baker, Trump's first actions as president look a lot like Putin's 25 years ago"The new administration's efforts to pressure the media, punish political opponents and tame the nation's tycoons are reminiscent of the early days of Vladimir Putin's reign in Russia," the journalist writes. "But America is not Russia," he clarifies. The world, meanwhile, watches and holds its breath.