So maybe that letter from Putin to Trump may have been more grooming of the Useful Idiot.

Trump just released a statement saying he received “a very nice letter from Vladimir Putin”. pic.twitter.com/QsmTQwGUQH

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 23, 2016

“HIS EXCELLENCY DONALD TRUMP” https://t.co/tOZVOrlJbi

— 🗽 (@leahmcelrath) December 23, 2016

Does anyone have a copy of this document in Russian? (Does one exist?) https://t.co/GUQkV1XXri

— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) December 23, 2016

Hearing from multiple Russians that there is no letter to Trump from Putin in Russian online, despite that it’s allegedly a translation https://t.co/GczIL3XA6k

— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) December 23, 2016

Trump is so easily impressed, it’s not hard to imagine the Kremlin — or their operatives in the USA — cooking up a congratulatory letter to “His Excellency” then waited for his inevitable self-congratulatory, gee-whiz tweets.

I’m also guessing their translators and foreign ministry people know that US presidents are not addressed as “his excellency.” They chose the words deliberately to impress Donnie.