Nina Khrushcheva's take on Putin's perspective of meddling in the US elections

Nina Khrushcheva is the great-granddaughter of former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. This is an English-language interview with her (short introduction in German) in which she shares her views of Putin's policy toward the US and the EU, current Russian politics, and the considerations she sees shaping Russian foreign policy. Nina Chruschtschowa über Putin, Stalin und ihren Urgroßvater FALTER Radio 18.01.2019:

She argues that Putin's goal in interfering in the US election was not to elect Donald Trump but to damage Hillary Clinton, who was generally seen as the likely winner. And was the winner of the popular vote.

In this Project Syndicate column, Is Trump Duping Putin? 11/06/2018, she looks at how the Russian leadership may be viewing policy decisions by the Trump-Pence Administration that are not in themselves helpful to Russia:

The Kremlin has remained willing to believe that Trump’s failure to deliver on his promise to improve ties is the result of opposition in Congress, not to mention the demonization of Putin by US Democrats and media. Suspicious of any action that might seem to benefit Putin, the logic goes, they must be preventing Trump from embracing Russia on a policy level.

But the truth is that neither Democrats nor the media have actually had much success in reining in Trump. As for the Republicans, who control both houses of the US Congress, even once-vocal opponents – such as Senators Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz – now lick Trump’s boots. With Trump having bullied his party into submission, it seems unlikely that his failure to deliver for Putin can be blamed on others.

The more likely explanation for Trump’s betrayal of Putin is that his warm rhetoric was, like everything else that comes out of his mouth, driven by his desire for ratings, not any actual interest in – let alone commitment to – helping the Kremlin. Consider how Trump’s early overtures to another strongman, Chinese President Xi Jinping, gave way to a full-blown trade war against that country, which Trump now portrays as America’s enemy.

... What is surprising is how Putin has misread the situation so badly. [my emphasis]

This strikes me as probably overstating Trump's desire for publicity. But given his scrambled approach to policy and decision-making and everything else, it's always possible. But his business dealings in Russia and the involvement of senior campaign officials with illicit Russian contacts clearly give the Russians some kind of leveerage over thim.

My Congressional Reprsentative Jackie Speier included this article in a constituent email as a recommended read: Garrett Graff, Trump Must Be A Russian Agent; The Alternative Is Too Awful Wired 01/16/2019. In his opening paragraph, Graff states his perspective this way:

The pattern of his pro-Putin, pro-Russia, anti-FBI, anti-intelligence community actions are so one-sided, and the lies and obfuscation surrounding every single Russian meeting and conversation are so consistent, that if this president isn’t actually hiding a massive conspiracy, it means the alternative is worse: America elected a chief executive so oblivious to geopolitics, so self-centered and personally insecure, so naturally predisposed to undermine democratic institutions and coddle authoritarians, and so terrible a manager and leader, that he cluelessly surrounded himself with crooks, grifters, and agents of foreign powers, compromising the national security of the US government and undermining 75 years of critical foreign alliances, just to satiate his own ego.

As Khrushcheva notes, correctly, not every action of the Trump-Pence Administration on Russia has been one-sidedly pro-Russia. But Graff's point is a good one. Of course, deference to Russia because of secrets hanging over his head can also coexist within the stunning incompetence of this government.