Not long after the election I heard someone who has followed Russian activities for years say Putin expected Clinton to win and just hoped to weaken her on the world stage during her presidency with all their messing around… They were as stunned as we were when the idiot won, and aren’t happy to have to deal with the constant fallout from him and his merry band of misfits. Vlad’s mama should have told him to be careful what he wished for – we’d all be a lot better off if his screwing with our elections hadn’t happened.
Edit to add: I heard this on NPR, sorry I don’t remember who was being interviewed.