It wouldn’t surprise me if there is some sort of leverage. Even if there weren’t, TFG sees Putin as an ally in his reelection bid (i.e. absolute power and avoiding prison). TFG is fully aware of Putin’s disinformation campaign in 2016, and his own campaign operatives had no qualms about meeting with Putin’s lackeys. TFG sucks up to Putin in the hope he gets the same preferential treatment this time around.
I have no idea if or how much the disinfo campaign actually helped TFG in 2016. To me it’s the intent that matters.
Conversely Putin correctly sees TFG as a weak leader who will damage the prestige of the US abroad and leave a vacuum for Russia to fill. trolley farms are cheap and get him a huge return on investment, just like the US supplying arms to Ukraine seriously degrades Russian military capacity and reputation for a low price.
This is all uninformed opinion, but I think it would describe the mechanics even if there were no kompromat or financial links (although Putin would be an eager well paying customer for America’s nuclear secrets)
