My preferred phrasing is that Trump looks at Putin like a schoolgirl with a crush.

I’m not sure why you start that with a “No” though - I don’t think we disagree.

I said that Putin won’t cede anything to Trump because that’s specifically what he (won’t) do. Yes - he doesn’t overtly shut Trump down - he doesn’t even seem to challenge him much. He’s smarter than that. He knows that Trump is a shallow, emotionally immature narcissist, so he feeds his ego and jollies him along, and counts on Trump being so pleased about being treated like a big boy by his hero/crush that he won’t notice that he isn’t sctually getting any meaningful concessions at all. And it works.

Anybody who expected anything else hasn’t been paying attention.

Trump’s a spoiled little boy pretending to be a big man. As long as he’s surrounded by unprincipled sycophants and other emotionally stunted wannabes, he can get away with pretending to be a big man, but as soon as anyone stands up to him, he folds up.

Putin, meanwhile, fought and killed his way to the top of one of the most fiercely competitive authoritarian systems on Earth. He’s never going to cede anything to a delusional toddler.

How much money you have doesn’t determine what your values are,

Having more wealth than you could ever possibly need while people all around you can’t even afford basic necessities is very much an indication of exactly what your values are. They’re shit and so are you.