President Trump is not “lashing out” at Putin, he is negotiating. The apparent denigrations directed at Putin are in fact a constructive criticism, which may or may not directly affect what Putin says or does, but have to be working at a subconscious level, triggering some alternate thought processes and scratching at different possible paths forward.
Donald J. Trump has gone through this cycle of talks before, with persons who have to have been near-equals with Putin, this is not his first rodeo. Hell, the man grew up in Queens, that is one of the toughest tests for developing negotiating skills anywhere.
Zelensky tried to shoot Putin’s helicopter with drones… that might have affected Putin’s mood.
Dear Putin,
We are going to Drill Baby Drill. You Dear Putin and Mother Russia are going to go bankrupt.
Love,
The USA
POTUS is just trying to save face domestically, with a wink and a nod to Vlad.