Putin counting on the re-election of 'asset' Trump: former admin official

According to one of the top diplomats who served Donald Trump's administration, Russian President Vladimir Putin would like nothing better than for Donald Trump to be re-elected president because, as she put it, "he has his number."

The Guardian is reporting that Fiona Hill, a key adviser on Russian affairs in the Trump White House, claimed that a return of the former president to the Oval Office would ease pressure on the Russian strongman whose invasion into Ukraine has gone poorly at best.

In an interview with the hosts of One Decision Podcast, Hill suggested Trump would be quick to pull support for Ukraine, giving Putin a massive boost and that the Russian president sees the former American president as someone who can easily be manipulated.

"Obviously, Putin has had Trump’s number for some time, he knows how to manipulate him … he has been very good at the art of flattery with Trump. He sees Trump as an asset in many respects," she explained while adding, "The anticipation that Trump’s going to come back is something for Putin of a boon … he can play with that. He can use it as kind of a warning... scare the Ukrainians, the Europeans, the rest of the world. Putin is pretty confident, given his experiences with Trump in the past, that Trump will be quick to try to resolve the... war in Ukraine in his favor."

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Hill also notes Trump and some of his allies would like nothing better than to see NATO fall apart.

“In any case, everything that Trump surrogates or Trump himself says about NATO [he has threatened to withdraw the US], about Europe and European security, about world and global affairs, about Ukraine, everything that’s happening on Capitol Hill … for Putin, this is just for him a sign that again, everything is going to rapidly switch in in his direction, his favor," she explained.

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