More than that. His legitimacy will be questioned from all directions, both foreign and domestic throughout. And, all he had to do to put the situation to rest was be open and transparent.
Does anyone have an “A-list” of foreign leaders who admire and respect the P-E? If Zed thinks sneaking smokes and going to the gym instead of church on Sunday impresses Vladi, he might want to look into what kind of “manly pursuits” his Soviet—oops! I mean Russian—counterpart engages in.
The man has no street cred beyond Chicago. He is an unknown and unproven entity. OBL cited the Arab proverb “ When a weak and a strong horse are seen side-by-side, a person chooses the strong.” This is the weakness, the inexperience, that will get him tested by every two-bit thug “leader” who has a grain of sand to call be a nation. I do not know how strong he is, but there is just one of him and whole lot of them.
Zed and his worshipers may believe he is the most intelligent man in the world and it may be so, but I'll bet Vladimir has a “My daughter beat up your honor student!” bumper sticker on the back of his ZIL.