While I agree with Laurence Freedman's argument that "kompromat" isn't that effective with Trump in this excellent essay, I'm not sure that Trump is simply motivated by admiration of Putin. I suspect it's more about lust for Russian money than a dictator love-in.

https://samf.substack.com/p/ukraine-with-or-without-trump?r=3h518x&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web