What is especially dangerous from the Kremlins perspective is that certain nationalistic circles in Russia are falling in love with Trumps insurrectionary approach. In January, for the first time since Putin returned to the Kremlin in 2012, Putin was not the most frequently cited name in the Russian media; Trump was. And although most of Trumps Russian admirers, such as Alexander Dugin, are loyal to Putin personally, they also dream of purging the globalist elites who occupy the rooms adjoining their presidents.
Anyone who spends any time in Moscow will quickly discover that ordinary Russians, in contrast with a majority of Europeans, feel surprisingly positive about Trump. One reason is that they are exhausted at Russias confrontation with the West. Another is that they share Trumps cynical, borderline apocalyptic view of international politics. Like Trump, they never believed in win-win politics in the first place.