Actually, trump empowered Putin and told him to wait until after the election, when trump would not have to answer to anyone. Trump made it clear that he didn't give a rat's ass about Ukraine. Let's not forget that Zelensky did not buy into trump's shakedown effortThat's a real knee slapper there
over dirt on Biden. When trump doesn't get his way, he disses the other person and spends his time away from his TV dreaming up ways to get even, and that is the case with Ukraine. And look at the unintended consequences of trump's behavior. Putin made his move when he was realized that there
was no "big steal" and the challenges were a figment of trump's imagination.