“Trump is saying that this country deals with a lot of bad people if it advances our interests. “
I can see it this way too, remember everyone, LBJ said “he may be an SOB but he’s our SOB” in talking about foreign dictators.
Putin is also in charge of the 2nd most powerful country on earth (or however one wants to look at it, they are among the most powerful).
Also, so far, we have this quote out of the context of the interview.