I do not understand how anyone would conclude that Putin would prefer Trump over Hillary:
Oil is 0ne half of the Russian government’s revenue. Higher levels of production from the US make it more difficult to fund the large Russian government. Just the threatened shut down (Hillary) of our extensive coal industry would have helped Putin and Russia.
In my opinion Hillary had already been bought through the Uranium 1 deal and it would have been easier for him to control her.
Trump’s fighting in the middle east has pushed Russia out of the lead in that area.
There are many more reasons for him to have supported Hillary, but those are the top ones.
A small note: when one of the MSM’s declared that it looked like Hillary would win it on election night, the Russian embassy personnel cheered and the election night party started in earnest. Later it quieted down.
Most importantly Trump’s inauguration ceremony alone, attests to the strengths of America’s enduring democratic institutions: the peaceful transfer of power, all these things the Russian state and media has conditioned the people to think are fraudulent shams so as to avoid the greater demands among the Russian people for a democracy of their own.
How do we know that?
According to a thread here on FR within the past 2 weeks, the Russkies spent less than $100K on Facebook and other ads during the 2016 campaign. Chump change, if that’s accurate.