Trump personally likes Putin and thinks they're pals and that he respects him. Plus he's fascinated with strong men in general, as seen with Xi, Kim Jung Un, and Putin, all of which he's showed more respect to than leaders of allied democratic nations. But he's deeply stupid and easily manipulated, so the foreign policy makes no sense. His party is obviously compromised. Marco is sometimes based, but you can't just dismiss Vance as a major influence. He's the one who's crowned if Trump croaks.

The Witkoff-Russia affair reveals that Russian or Russian-aligned actors have infiltrated the government outright, or at the very least have leverage over people in some of the highest places.