Putin found the "secret key" to Trump: Fiona Gill's opinion

The illegitimate Russian President Vladimir Putin was able to charm US President Donald Trump and expose his weaknesses, and is now able to openly manipulate and even "troll" him.

As former White House adviser Fiona Gill said, Putin is using flattery to flatter Trump's ego while continuing to do whatever he wants in Ukraine.

It is extremely difficult to imagine how Putin would refuse this. His entire economy, his entire society, his entire politics, his entire desire for self-preservation revolve around this war.

Gill also said that Putin has "trolled" Trump during meetings, using the language barrier as a cover. She notes that one such instance was when Trump and Putin met at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, in 2019.

During the conversation, Putin and Trump discussed nuclear missiles and whether Russia was ahead of the United States. And then they both bragged about how much they were doing for Israel... Trump was saying, "No, Russia can't be more supportive of Israel than I am." And [he] was talking about all the things he had done for Israel: [recognizing] Jerusalem as the capital, the new embassy, etc.... Trump was saying that they had named all of this [in Israel] after him, and Putin was saying, "Well, Donald, maybe they should just name the country after you?

Gill notes that she could barely contain her laughter, as did John Bolton, who was present at the meeting and was then the national security adviser.

However, Trump has shown in recent meetings with allies and his own cabinet that flattery, no matter how insincere, works.

That was the case in Osaka. As Gill notes, Trump missed the irony and took Putin's statement that Israel's name should be changed literally.

Ignoring "the way Putin said it, and the body language, and the way he shifted in his chair," Trump replied, "Oh no, that would be too much."

Gill believes Trump likes Putin because he sees the authoritarian Russian leader as an equal. And their relationship brings prestige to the US president:

Because Putin is a cool guy. He's exactly who Trump would like to be. Trump looks up to people who are in charge, who are essentially cool. And that's who he wants to be. And he believes that he elevates himself in the eyes of everyone by associating with them. And that's what Putin understood. Putin saw through him. Putin understands that this is a person with a very fragile ego, and that he can be manipulated in this way.

She notes that Trump wants to be recognized by absolutely everyone who matters — whether it's Xi Jinping in China, or Russian dictator Putin, or royal families around the world.

This is really important for Trump, it's his main currency.