It’s obvious but I haven’t seen it clearly stated enough to make its consequence obvious.

As far as I know, everyone who knows the details says the Russians are deliberately influencing U.S. elections and that Putin is leading the effort in some way.

What does Putin want?

People answer various ways. The clearest answer seems: Putin wants a weaker United States.

Corollary: Putin wanting a weaker U.S. suggests that he will back candidates who will weaken the nation.

In other words, evidence suggests that Putin considers Donald Trump weaker than Hillary Clinton, or worse for the nation.

Donald Trump seems to idolize Putin, so someone Trump idolizes considers him weak.

This conclusion seems obvious, but I haven’t seen anyone state it so clearly. Am I missing something? If so, I’d love to learn what. Otherwise, it seems something that someone running against Trump could point out to his constituency: “Your candidate looks up to someone who considers him weak.”

Evidence seems to imply Trump colluded with Putin. If so, Trump’s involvement may mean other motivations for Putin, but its implications seem worse for Trump.