Donald Trump found himself in a precarious position Thursday after President Barack Obama imposed additional sanctions on Russia for its alleged efforts to interfere with the U.S. election, and in an even more awkward spot when Russian president Vladimir Putin responded Friday by refraining from any reciprocal retaliatory action—apparently awaiting friendlier relations with the incoming administration. But instead of standing with the current U.S. president, Trump decided to use his platform to praise the former K.G.B. official, who is believed to have personally orchestrated multiple acts of cyber-warfare against the country Trump will soon lead.

On Friday afternoon, Trump did two things in response to Putin’s decision not to retaliate against U.S. diplomats in Russia. First, he tweeted a response celebrating the intelligence of the Russian president. “Great move on delay (by V. Putin) - I always knew he was very smart!,” the future leader of the free world wrote to his 18 million followers. Second, after tweeting his pro-Kremlin missive, Trump pinned the tweet to his profile, ensuring it is the first thing seen by anyone viewing his account. It appears to be the first time Trump has ever used the feature.

Just to make sure nobody missed it, Trump also posted the tweet as a graphic on Instagram.

Journalists and other foreign policy experts on Twitter responded accordingly.

The Russians took note of Trump’s tweet, and retweeted it themselves.

Third-party candidate Evan McMullin, who has been vocal in his opposition of Trump, tweeted his displeasure.

Some Twitter users questioned whether Trump had committed an act of treason with his tweet.

Others suggested “treason” went too far.

Then there was the counter-backlash to the backlash over the “T” word.

During the campaign, Trump repeatedly vowed to improve relations with Russia, and since the election has dismissed allegations that the former Soviet nation was responsible for hacking the Democratic National Committee or the Clinton campaign. On Thursday, in the wake of Obama’s retaliatory measures against Russia, Trump issued a short, terse statement without ever saying the name of the country in question. “It’s time for our country to move on to bigger and better things,” he said. That has put Trump in a difficult position with the G.O.P., which has historically been aligned against Russia, but has recently found itself having to defend Trump’s perplexing compulsion to praise Putin at every turn. As some on Twitter noted, Trump’s most recent burst of affection for the Russian autocrat is not likely to make things easier for his Republican allies on Capitol Hill, who are already faced with the unenviable task of confirming Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State, ExxonMobil C.E.O. Rex Tillerson, who has extensive business ties to Russia and a close personal relationship with Putin.

Donald Trump’s transition office, meanwhile, had no additional comment.

This story has been updated.