Tick that box, too. Trump has described the European Union as “brutal,” called it a “foe,” spoken in favor of British withdrawal from it, and downgraded the E.U. ambassador’s status in Washington.

In short, the president has shown disdain for an organization that has furthered American interests. Safeguarding the stability and security of Europe was the greatest single American strategic challenge from 1945 to 1990. The E.U. was a foundation of this effort that ended with the establishment of a Europe whole and free.

Like every “enemy of the people” in the press, like every poor schmuck who ever worked for this guy, like any American patriot who wants to respect the president, I’ve struggled to find a redeeming feature in Donald Trump. I can now report: There is none.

But I must return to Russia again. Just because Trump furthers Russian designs does not mean he’s in Russia’s employ. Of course it does not. I want to be clear about that. Just because you assist Russia does not means you’re an asset of Russia even if you assist Russia from the Oval Office.

Putin, who has described the collapse of the Soviet Union as “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe” of the last century, seeks the collapse in the 21st century of the American quasi-imperium that has provided the organizing structure of the free world. The Russian president favors a retreating United States that has abandoned its values, granting open season to autocrats — an America for which human rights, a rules-based international order, the rule of law itself, and the dignity of the free citizen in a democracy have been nullified.

Again, Trump is working in sync with Putin. Tick another box. There is not a despot on the face of the earth who fears Donald Trump’s United States. From Beijing to Budapest, authoritarianism and illiberalism have been given a boost by Trump as alternative models to liberal democracy.

The president’s principal emotion in the face of dictators is envy. He is a would-be King Ubu for whom self-aggrandizement never self-aggrandizes quite enough.