If Russia actually took Trump seriously as a smart adversary who could threaten their power they wouldn't have tried to put get him elected and tried again to keep him in power [0,1]. I don't believe Trump was a Russian agent per se, although it is odd how Trump's connections with Russian business (and potential to be compromised) didn't raise any eyebrows among the set still screaming about Hunter Biden. It's obvious Russia supported Trump for the same reason many Americans did - as a "bull in the china shop of the establishment."

Russia probably wouldn't have succeeded in sabotaging American politics or sewing so much discord via Trump just being himself if half the country didn't happen to also want to see the system burn, albeit to a different end (an alt-right, anti progressive populist revolution.)

[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_interference_in_the_20...

[1]https://www.npr.org/2021/03/16/977958302/intelligence-report...

Fact check:

- Trump wanted to sell US gas to EU in 2018.

- Trump wanted to pull out of NATO -> weaker NATO weaker response to Putin's invasion in 2019.

- Germany cut nuclear because Schroeder, friend of Putin's. See links above.

What weakness did Trump "exploit" and "how"? Also, citations needed.

> If dumb Western leaders were at least as smart as Trump, we wouldn’t be in this situation.

Yes, if western leaders were as smart as Trump, Ukraine would have been lost already, and covid would have ravaged Europe like it did with US.