Can you hear the Russian national anthem playing in President Vladimir Putin‘s private suite while he and his oligarch comrades sip vodka martinis, laughing at how they played the predictable U.S. president and boasting of their future conquests?

Putin clearly stated his objectives years ago when he said that the worst tragedy of the 20th century was the collapse of the Soviet empire. Forget the holocaust or the AIDS epidemic ravaging Africa or the atrocities of too many wars. The glory of Mother Russia was gone, and Putin saw an opportunity to restore it through a weak U.S. leader, who could be maneuvered into conforming to Russian interests.