Even though Russia and the U.S. are adversaries, I think Putin would rather deal with a brilliant, flamboyant, patriotic and fearless orange man than a demented, over the hill, gray puppet that can't string 3 words together. I pity the translator trying to make sense of what passes Xiden's mouth as coherency. Bottom line, Putin respects and admires a person who returns those qualities and they can both see problems that are common between them while remaining loyal to their own countries.