From Tim Weiner’s new book, The Mission:

For CIA veterans, what truly shocked their conscience was Trump‘s cold betrayal of Ukraine and his open embrace of Russia.

For a decade, American spies, politicians, citizens, and journalists had wondered aloud about the president’s affinity for Putin. Was Trump really his useful idiot? Could the Russians have something on him? Was it conceivable that he had been recruited? Or had he recruited himself? Was it simply that he liked Putin because he wanted to be like Putin – an autocrat with absolute power? It had been a mystery.

But now the answer was apparent, as clear as a bolt of lightning. Trump wasn’t Putin’s agent. He was his ally. The president of the United States had gone over to the other side.